Farming For Dummies
by YBNorml
Summary: Complete Series Reformated. AU, Slash, Incest if you squint and tilt your head to the left, also Harvest MoonxFull Metal Alchemist crossover.
1. Chapter 1

The beginning of my _wonderful_ life

Chapter 1 – **wet rain**

The pale youth strode around the land he now called his own. The sun was shining, but over the edge of the beautiful valley were clouds promising rain. Come to think of it, he didn't very much like rain. It was far too wet for his taste. Hmm, was there such a thing as _dry_ rain? If so, that was how Phage liked his rain. Not wet, but very _dry_. A cool breeze blew past him, ruffling his flaming orange hair, his bright blue eyes watering automatically at the sensation.

Everything around him was strange and alien. The young man had always been a city dweller, was always proud to say he was born and bred to be such. Now here he was, standing in the middle of a farm that his father's father had owned but never made prosperous. It was good solid land. There were some fallow fields the grass slightly uneven with a serene strong tree with pink leaves being pulled into the air by the gentle wind. He was standing in front of the currently empty chicken coop at the moment; which of course happened to be situated between two plots, one not in the slightest fertile and the other however was just a little. A couple yards away, an extremely large plot of good soil existed, probably the best on the farm he had inherited.

Phage McDougall was not at this point in time, the happiest person on earth. He walked over to the single room building that was to be his house. Two small puppies played with each other around his ankles, as if to play peek-a-boo. When Takakura (the friend and partner of his grandfather that lived on the farm) was showing him around the valley, and around his new home, these two small dogs showed up. The older male had asked him if he would like to keep one of them. Not being able to choose between them, Phage had decided to keep both puppies.

"Bob, Joe, stop it! I need to get into the house!" Phage said sternly, looking down at the two.

Both canines looked innocently up at him, ganging up on him with the baby eyes that were their expertise.

"Don't look at me like that you two…" Phage pleaded, shutting the door behind his followers.

Dragging his feet, the exhausted male collapsed on his new bed. He could feel the foot of the bed sink down as the babies pulled themselves up on to the mattress. It wasn't long before they unintentionally gave him a back rub while padding up and down his back. Phage groaned, feeling his back pop by one of their movements.

Thinking back on Takakura's _grand_ tour of Forget-me-not Valley, the day had been mentally tiring. By the time they had gotten back to the farm, the sun was setting and all the poor boy had wanted to do was sleep wherever he happened to fall on his way to his bed.

_I wonder what the old man meant by 'I suggest you get married, and quickly. Your grandfather always wanted this to be a family farm._' Phage thought. Why in the hell would it be any of that old geezer's business whether or not he got married? He thought back on his potential options for marriage, that is if he wanted to get married anyway. Who ever said he wanted to get married? He sure didn't. Looking back on his potential marriage suspects he groaned. He rattled them off in his mind: well, first there was Celia…

_The first place they visited was a smaller farm near the steep path that led out of the valley. As soon as they walked into the area where the fields were located, they bumped into a girl watering plants._

"_Hello Takakura." Said a charming girl around Phage's age. _

_She had espresso brown hair and gentle grey eyes, her cheeks were rosy from working in the fields. Her smooth pale lips formed a warm smile at them as she brushed back a stray strand of hair that had fallen out of the orange bandana holding it back. She wore a modest frock that was a grey-green in color and a gingham apron over it, feminine pointed brown boots covering her feet. _

"_Good afternoon, Celia. This is Phage; he's the boy I was telling you about. The one who's taking over the farm." Takakura explained. _

_Celia nodded, looking over at Phage and blushing slightly, holding her hands together nervously she said, "Nice to meet you Phage, welcome to the valley." _

"_Yeah, nice to meet you too." _

_Suddenly a tall beefy woman with frizzy blonde hair pulled back in a rough ponytail made her way towards them with long strides. This woman was intimidating to say the least. She wore big red goulashes and on odd yellow dress with a burlap apron. Her eyes were a wild green and her face stout and determined. _

"_Takakura, this the one you were telling us about, right? He's a handsome one, that's for sure. Don't you think so Celia?" The woman gave Celia a furtive look. _

_Phage was taken a back at this stranger's boldness. Celia blushed furiously, looking down at the ground, avoiding Phage's eyes at all costs._

"_Um, thank you…I guess." The youth took a step back, just in case she went wild like one of those Amazon women he had seen on the discovery channel once. _

_Takakura nodded, "This is Phage, Phage this is Vesta she grows crops and sells seeds here on her farm. This is where you can buy seeds and fertilizer for your farm. By the way, Vesta, where's your brother?" _

"_He's in the office sulking about something or other. He'll be around later; you can come by and meet him tomorrow if you would like Phage." _

_The male nodded, looking over to Takakura. _

"_We'll be going now Vesta. Phage still has to meet the other people. Good bye Celia." Takakura said his good byes and Phage waved to the women as he walked off. _

Phage sighed, he rolled over and looked up at the ceiling, the puppies had already fallen asleep, and they were curled up next each other at the foot of the bed. Celia was shy, and charming. However cute she was, Phage hadn't felt any spark, or any nervousness around her. To be truthful, he had felt more nervous around Vesta then Celia; and for very different reasons. Then of course, there was Nami, now she was…well, Phage couldn't really think of a word to describe her.

_Takakura stopped outside of a tall building with two beautiful balconies in the front. The doors opened and an attractive young man with smooth golden hair parted straight down the middle walked out to greet them. _

"_Hello friend!" He grinned enthusiastically. _

"_Yes, hello Rock. This is Phage." Takakura introduced the two. _

_Phage smirked, he had a feeling he would become good friends with Rock. _

"_How are you farmer? I suppose this is going to be a bit odd for you, a city-ling that you are." Rock said sympathetically. _

_Phage felt a strong connection immediately with this fellow male for his insight and sympathy. _

"_Yeah, I can barely believe I'm here." Phage responded casually. _

"_Well, there may not seem like much to do here. But it's definitely more peaceful than the city. You'll get used to it. Stop by if you want to hang out, I'll show you the ropes." Rock smiled._

_Phage nodded, his eyes suddenly caught by the beautiful fiery headed enigma sitting cross-legged, perfectly balanced on the narrow balcony rail. _

"_Hey, you probably shouldn't be sitting like that; you'll fall off and break something!" Phage shouted up to her. _

"_You mean, I might break you." The woman replied crisply, staring him down coolly._

_Rock rolled his lips inward, his eyes laughing. _

"_What did you just say?" Phage asked incredulously. _

_She ignored him; instead she slid off the rail and landed inside the balcony rails, walking inside the building. There was a soft click as a door was closed._

"_Don't get upset my friend. That was Nami; she's a traveler and has been staying at the inn for a year now. She's friendly with some of the villagers, but to new people or to other visitors she's not so nice. She can be hard to handle sometimes, but really she isn't that bad once you get to know her." Rock told him. _

_Phage calmed himself down enough to look at Rock and tell him thanks and see you later. He had a feeling he wouldn't get along very well with Nami. _

Sun was just now creeping in through the curtain less window, and Phage could hear his stomach groaning at the lack of food within. The youth looked over towards the miniscule kitchen that was supposed to help support him food wise.

"Yeah, right…" Phage scowled, pushing himself up off of his bed where he had fallen asleep not five hours before.

The puppies weren't sleeping; they were running around the house. Bob was currently chasing Joe, and whenever Bob was going to turn around and run the other way, he would skid to a stop on the slippery wood floor and run the other way. To any normal person this would have been quite amusing. Phage _wasn't_ any normal person, and therefore was very annoyed.

"Stop it!" He shouted.

Both canines skidded to a stop at his bare feet, looking up at their master with wide puppy eyes. Phage sighed, and then turned to look into the fridge. Nothing, there was no food, or really anything in the fridge. What in the hell? His jaw dropped, and consequently, so did the bottom of his stomach. The young man hadn't prepared any food to bring here because he thought the old geezer would have given him some! But noooo, there was no food, and he was very, very hungry…

Gripping his grandfather's fishing pole tightly in hand, and a basket full of wild grasses in the other, Phage made his way up to the waterfall. Takakura had said that was the best place to fish. _Woopdidoo_… Phage came to a halt at the waterfall, carefully setting down his grasses he had picked. The male walked closer to the waterfall and cast his lure into the water. Now, the waiting came. Phage did not like to wait, but if it meant he would eventually get food, why then waiting was his favorite thing in the world.

Three long hours later, Phage had managed to get six large fish out of his trip. He walked home wearily. Now, if he could just find some butter somewhere, he might be able to make a salad his friend Rock had told him about the other day. Where would he find butter? He didn't very well have a food processing building, and he had no clue where his cow Bessie went. She was a true Houdini, that cow could just disappear whenever she felt like it!

Sighing heavily not the first time that day, Phage walked into this house and began chopping up the 'mugwort' he had found outside his house on the chopping board, every now and then rinsing it with water. He then moved the chopped grasses into a bowl on the counter next to him. After this, he took one of his six fish (putting the others in the fridge) and put it into a skillet with some water, cooking it for a good five minutes. Phage grinned at the luxurious smell, slowly adding the mugwort bits into the skillet. His stomach growled loudly, sensing food. Finally, when ten more minutes had passed, Phage poured his creation onto a plate he found in a cupboard under the sink. The tall youth sat down at his table, and dug into the food he had just prepared. Wonderful juices filled his mouth as he tore into the Big Nayame he had caught. One glance at the clock, however, made his eyes start watering. It was already 3:00Pm and he had gotten nothing done but the task of feeding himself. Not only that, but he had no clue where Bessie had gotten to.

After Phage finished he lunch, he walked outside and first decided he would go find Bessie. A half hour later, after walking the entire valley, he found her back in the field. When she saw him, she mooed happily and trotted over to the fence to greet him.

"You are one weird cow, you know that?" He told her, rubbing her head like he did the dogs.

Bessie looked insulted for a moment, but then continued to enjoy his patting, "Moo!"

Phage smiled down at her, accepting an especially wet lick on the cheek he jumped over the fence.

"Okay girl, I need to get some milk to send off to town. You wouldn't mind me, would you?" Phage looked hopefully down at her.

Bessie shook her head, smiling she used her large forehead to push him in the direction of the tool shed.

"I'll be right back with a bucket and a couple of bottles." Phage called to her, hurrying off to the tool shed.

A couple of days ago, and Phage had been a charming lady's man city slicker. Now here he was in a valley in the middle of nowhere, talking to a cow (that he owned) named Bessie, who had the magical ability to disappear. He sighed heavily, entering the tool shed, Phage grabbed the bucket he found on a long wooden shelf and headed back out to the field. There Bessie was waiting.

"Alright, stay still." He told her, kneeling down beside her, he put the newly obtained silver bucket under her udders.

In less than 20 minutes, he had four bottles filled with milk. Phage took two and put them in the shipping box inside the storage room. Walking back to his new house, the youth kept the other two for him. Relishing in the fact that he was done with his chores for the day, he decided to take a walk.

Looking around, the male took a moment to enjoy the surreal beauty. After a few minutes of simply following his feet, Phage found himself sitting on the beach staring out at the beautiful ocean, waves lapping up on the shore dangerously near his feet. He laid down on the sand and watched time fly by, the sky darken and cloud sheep drift through blue fields.

Finally, the youth decided it was time to head home. When he stood and turned around, he noticed a boy sitting under the picnic shelters further down the beach, just watching him. Phage paused mid stretch, returning the odd stare, and resolved the idea to head over to the strange staring-boy.

"Hello." Phage greeted, thinking this sounded awfully stupid he added, "I'm new here, I'm taking over the farm over there."

Just in case the stranger was directionally challenged, Phage pointed it out to him.

"I was sure I'd met everyone in the valley, but apparently I missed someone." Phage winked coyly and his unusual companion blushed slightly still looking down at the ground.

"Hi, I'm Phage, what's your name?" The farmer squatted down, falling back on his posterior so he could see the boy better.

"Jack."

Chapter 2 – **inopportune shyness**

It would seem that this boy sitting opposite him (Jack was his name) was extremely shy, or embarrassed for some unknown reason, or both. Phage observed Jack, taking in his appearance._ He actually looks the part that I'm supposed to be playing_, Phage thought. Jack had rough dark brown hair with a tall cowlick in front; he had dark blue eyes and a soft but strong face. His hands were covered by red and black working gloves and he work rugged blue jeans that had a significant amount of dirt on them. His plain white button up shirt was tucked into his trousers and had a stain on it that looked like it could've been ketchup.

"Am I really that intimidating?" Phage asked his companion.

"Don't give yourself so much credit." Jack looked up at him smartly.

"Well, here I was thinking you were the shy and modest type." Phage commented.

"Really?" Jack asked, his previous shyness gone.

"Really. Averted eyes and a blush usually is the heads up." The orange haired youth explained, smirking broadly.

"It also could be a heads up that the person who introduced themselves first has a really huge zit on his chin." Jack retorted.

When Phage put his hand to his chin to feel if he did have a huge zit, Jack leaned back and laughed.

"Hey Phage, you know if you do this, people look really funny." Jack held four fingers up in front of his face and waved them back and forth real quick.

Phage followed suit only to realize he had been tricked again. He glared at the other tween viciously.

"Hey, I didn't lie! I said people look funny, and I was right, you looked really funny!" Jack laughed again.

Phage could feel a smile creeping onto his face, but quickly he pushed it away as he stood up. He had had enough of this; there was no way he was going to sit around and be tricked into doing stupid things by someone he didn't even know. He was _not_ made purely for other people's amusement.

"Hey, don't go! I'm sorry. How bout we go to the blue bar for a drink? I'll pay." Jack offered.

Phage sighed, turning around he offered the male a hand. Jack took it and stood up.

"Where's the blue bar again?" Phage asked.

"Just follow me, I'll show you."

"Takakura was running around town these past few days telling everybody that someone was finally going to start up that farm over there." Jack pointed toward Myishi farm, "He said it was the grandson of the guy who originally owned it. Everybody's been pretty excited about you showing up."

"Why?" Phage questioned looking down at the brunette.

"Well, not that many people come through this valley and even less move here for good." They had finally reached the blue bar, and Jack opened the door for his taller counterpart.

"I can understand that."

"Hey Phage! Nice to see you friend!" A bouncing blonde blob attached itself to Phage's torso.

"Hi Rock, what's up?" The blonde party-man pulled back and looked up at him blankly for a minute, almost as though Phage had asked a really tough question.

"Oh!" Rock smiled, just figuring out the question, "Nothing much, I just came over to the bar for a moon trip. I was gonna head back when I saw you come in."

"Hi Rock." Jack greeted.

"Hello Jack!" The two exchanged a hug.

Phage scratched the back of his neck while watching the exchange. He smiled at Jack falling over, and then impishly pulling Rock down with him so they would both receive bruises. When Rock fell on top of Jack, Phage felt a spark of slight anger. A sudden vision of Jack moaning in pleasure from Phage's own teasing tongue shot through his mind. Phage was brought back to reality by Griffin asking him if he was alright.

"You look like you just saw a ghost or something." Griffin stated.

"Oh I'm sorry bout that, I'm fine really. I just kind of zoned out." Phage walked over to the bar and took a seat.

"So, what'll it be?" Griffin asked him.

"Um…" Rock sat down and while giggling madly whispered in his ear, "You want a stone oil."

Phage nodded and made his order. While the older man was fixing the drink they filled the room with pleasant chatter. _What's up? Oh, really? Cool. Yeah, me too. How am I? I'm good thanks._ It was the usual banter between people who don't really know each other that well. Suddenly Phage was interrupted by Griffin handing him a foaming mug of some dark bitter smelling liquid.

"There you go, drink up. That'll be 300 gold." Griffin told him.

Phage grumbled that Jack was paying for it. Then Griffin looked expectantly at Jack who confidentlypulled outa wad ofodd colored bills and set them on the counter. Phage picked up the mug and downed all the contents in one gulp. For a moment or two, all Phage could taste was the bitter, slightly sour concoction... then suddenly he was hit with an almost orgasmic pleasure in his taste buds that knocked him off his chair.

When Phage got back up he looked wide eyed at the wildly laughing Jack and Rock sitting in the seats next to him. They had known this would happen. Phage's eyes narrowed.Hehauled back an experienced fist and was about to send Rock's head spinning when the blonde said something that made him double over laughing.

"Don't hit me, I'm too pretty!" Rock exclaimed in all seriousness.

Jack snorted, wisely covered up his face and turned away. Phage, not knowing any better continued on laughing until Rock tackled him and started smacking him like a sissy. In fact, Rock wasn't even looking at him, but had his eyes screwed shut with his head turned away he was aimlessly making smacking motions with his hands in the hopes he would finally make contact with the offending person. Finally, Phage figured out if he laid down at a certain angle, Rock's wildly swinging hands wouldn't make contact with him and he could just watch himflail aroundamusinglywithout inflicting harm.

By now it was near midnight and Phage decided he should probably head back to the farm. The male bucked his friend off of his stomach and onto the floor and accepted the hand Jack offered him.

"Thanks."

"No problem. Let's head out before Rock's realized we've left." Jack told him.

"How long will that be?" Phage laughed.

"Probably twenty minutes or so, he's had three moon trips and about five stone oils." Jack explained as they headed for the door.

"See you later Griffin." Both youths waved at the older man who returned the gesture politely before continuing to watch Rock squirm on the floor.

Jack and Phage walked leisurely towards the farm.

"Does Rock always get piss drunk like that?" Phage asked.

"Yep. He's a partier by nature. Rock is at the blue bar almost every night." Jack sighed and leaned back his head to look up at the starry night sky.

The rest of the way they walked in companionable silence. When they reached Phage's door, Jack paused.

"Um, it was cool meeting you Phage; maybe we could hang out tomorrow?" Jack looked down at the ground shyly.

"Sure." Phage looked down at the shorter male fondly.

Without thinking, Phage reached his hand down to gently lift up Jack's chin, in one swift movement Phage claimed his companions lips with his. It was a short sweet kiss that lasted only a few seconds but when Phage pulled back Jack gazed at him with confused and shocked eyes. A flash of uncertain longing crossed Jack's face before he sprinted off the farm and away from Phage as fast as he could.

Phage groaned and walked into his house, slamming the door behind him. The pale male collapsed onto his bed and gripped his hair angrily. _What the hell was that?_ He asked himself. _Why did you kiss him? You're straight!_ Or, at least Phage hoped he was. But then again, if he was straight, why had he felt so jealous when Rock fell on top of Jack at the bar? Why did he kiss Jack? _Do you like Jack?_ _No, I don't like Jack, I just want to fuck him senseless…wait, what's wrong with that sentence? Did I just think about fucking a guy? What's wrong with me?_

Phage rolled over and stared at the ceiling bitterly, "Fan-fucking-tastic…"

Chapter 3 –** God…damn…weeds**

When Phage woke up the next morning, his head was pounding and everything seemed to be tinged with rainbows. He was excruciatingly confused and dizzy. He knew he was in his house because the demon dogs he had taken in were now coating the bottom of his feet with a thick layer of saliva. With an annoyed sigh the pale youth let his head fall back onto his pillow. What had happened last night? Why was he experiencing a hangover? _Because you were drinking, you idiot!_ Phage's brain responded with resounding pound of pain in his cranium. That's funny; he only remembered having one drink. That was some powerful alcohol.

Phage rolled off the bed and stood up, he took two steps before he slipped on his spit covered feet and fell on his posterior in front of a chair threatening to fall on him. This was not a good time to have a hangover. There were a lot of things that needed doing. Phage had to figure out how to grow crops. Bessie had most likely repeated her infamous disappearing act, and if Phage wanted to ship some milk he would definitely have to go and find her. What time was it? The red head looked over at the clock on his bedside table and found that it was around one in the afternoon. _Holy shit!_ The male shot to his feet only to be punished with destructive migraine for moving to quickly. Working hard to bare through it, Phage left the house, leaving the door wide open. Two happy go lucky puppies tagged along after him, as Phage went to go check the storage building. Maybe Takakura had already gotten back and left some money from the sales of the milk. _I hope so…_ Phage thought.

Grumbling loudly, Phage pushed the door open and entered the frigid building, there was a colorful tin can on the table along with a thick spiral note book. Next to the large crate was a cold dairy box that had been labeled as '_the shipping box_'. He sluggishly shuffled over to the money tin and picked up the lid, inside was close to a thousand gold bills. The twenty-year-old was so happy at the sight of money he thought he might cry. Picking up the crisp currency, Phage lovingly rubbed it against his face.

"Money…oh, how I love you so…"

"Hey, Flack, you said this guy would be good!"

"I didn't say he would be good, I said he would be interesting."

"Nack, it's obvious the idiot is attracted to money! And not in the way **normal** people are!"

"Nick! Shut up, maybe he's simply intoxicated."

"Wow, Flak that makes him so much better!"

"Nick, listen to me, big people fall into three categories: druggies, alcoholics, and the just plain stupid. There is **no such thing as normal**!"

Phage turned around to see three small beings. One was wide wearing a bright yellow coat; he had a big read nose, pale skin, pointy ears, and green hair. Next to him were two other smaller things (most likely the same species as the aforementioned come to life garden gnome) one in a red coat with blue hair and a narrower body, and the other was wearing a blue coat that had extremely long sleeves. _Surely_, Phage thought,_ this must be hangover induced hallucinations…right?_

"What are you looking at you freak!" The blue coated garden gnome asked.

"Well that's the pot calling the kettle black, don't you think?" Phage asked the hallucination.

If the Phage of three weeks ago were witnessing this, he would probably commit suicide. Here Phage was, in the middle of nowhere, on a farm that supposedly belonged to his grandfather and some weird Takakura guy, talking to some garden gnome like hallucinations induced by what must be some of the most powerful alcohol on earth. _Great…_

"Okay, I need to go do chores now, so…I'll leave you garden gnomes to bickering inside the storage room." Phage bowed to them and then promptly left the storage room.

He decided that the first thing that he was going to do was get some milk from Bessie, if he could find her that is. When Phage wandered over to the field he had his hands over his eyes. Cautiously, he removed them and saw that Bessie was in fact standing out in the field. She hadn't disappeared yet.

"Bessie!" He yelled.

The cow looked up and then let out a happy moo. Then she ran over to the fence. Wait, did cows run? Did they gallop? Did they trot? Whatever was the fastest gate that cows could muster, Bessie was surely going it now. When she arrived at the fence she held her head high and gave him a wet sloppy kiss on the cheek. Phage scowled and proceeded to wipe the cow spit off his face when Bessie reached up her tongue and licked his hand too. Sighing heavily, the young male looked down at her in defeat. Bessie smiled and mooed happily.

"What am I going to do with you?" He asked, using his spit covered hand to rub small circles down her wide neck.

An hour later, Phage had secured four bottles of some of the best milk he had ever tasted or smelled. Because of this, he labeled each one with a big S for super. Phage looked down at the shipping box proudly. He was starting to get used to this, he might even be enjoying himself. The male left the storage room and decided if it was really safe to go visit Vesta to get seeds or not. _She was really scary…and I like Celia but I'm not sure that I want to marry her…but I really want to keep my limbs intact…oh what do I do?_ Phage thought in despair. While he was thinking, his traitorous feet were leading him slowly but surely over to Vesta's farm.

"Damn feet!" He shook his fist at them angrily.

_I must look really out of my mind…_Phage thought. Here he was talking to himself and cursing at his feet. Woopdidoo! Soon he found himself in front of Vesta's office and he gulped before knocking on the door. He was fully prepared to face Vesta, he had thought up a plan on how to keep all of his body parts with him and get the seeds on his way over here. But what he wasn't prepared for was the tall dark and handsome that opened the door. His hair was a shining lustrous mass of black curls and a grim scowl. His eyes were a steely grey and he was staring at Phage in a studious way.

Phage decided to speak first, "Um…I'm here to buy some seeds."

"Come in then." The man told him, walking behind a large wooden table.

Phage followed him in and shut the door behind him. Phage's tall dark and handsome pulled out amoney tin, a calculator, a notepad, and a large pen.

"Here, look through this and decide what it is that you want." His dark haired counterpart flicked an order sheet over to him deftly, while looking over his notepad.

Phage looked down at his order sheet and was amazed out how many different things there were to buy here. Looking down the list Phage discovered something…the seeds sold more than the fruits on average. The seed that cost the most was the banana seed. If he could raise the tree really well, and maybe if he could figure out how to make seeds, he could sell them in town for a really high price and…

"Hey man, are you going to order something or just stand there all day? I have work to do you know."

Phage checked off the box next to Banana seed and in the number box he put one.

"What's your name anyway? I didn't meet you in town the other day." Phage asked him.

"Marlin." He replied stiffly, "The amount you ordered of that seed will cost you 1,500 G."

Phage smiled at him confidently and pulled out a large wad of money and put it down on the table. Marlin grimaced and picked up the currency, flicking through it. He stopped about ten bills short of the grouping and tossed ten of them back before putting the bunch still in his hand into his money tin.

"Have a nice day." Marlin said, writing down the order and the money transaction.

Phage nodded, picking up the seed bag that Marlin had tossed at him as well as the left over money. He walked out of the office and back towards his farm. When he got there, he read the back of the package in his hands carefully.

**Soil: Any**

**Season: Fall Winter Spring Summer (Harvest in summer) **

**Growth rate: Slow **

"Okay then, guess I'll plant it in this plot here." Phage turned toward the plot of least fertile soil and felt his jaw hit the ground at the sight now presented to him.

There were weeds, not only little annoying weeds, but 'Roar, I'm going to eat you for dinner' big weeds. This was not good. Those weeds weren't there just the other day. Phage _hated_ weeds. He found himself in the tool shed, looking desperately for garden gloves. When he found them, he wisely picked up the heavy scythe he found on the wall. Phage walked back outside toward the plot of soil but didn't make it there. He was glomped with frightening speed by a fuzzy blob of snuggling brown hair.

"Uh, hello to you too." Phage blushed a bright red and knelt down to see who his attacker was.

A bright and happy face appeared _real close_ to his. Beautiful golden eyes stared innocently into his.

"Hi Phage!" She said gleefully.

"Hi!" He said right back before asking, "What was your name again?"

"Lumina, you silly! You're so funny Phage." She looked down at the scythe he had carefully set down and at the garden gloves covering his hands, "Whatcha doing?"

"I was going to go weed, but-"

"I want to help!" The small girl shouted.

"Um, sure. I'll take the scythe and you can use these garden gloves. I'm sure you don't want to get too much dirt under your nails." Phage pulled his garden gloves off and putthem onto Lumina's hands.

They were big and floppy on her, but she didn't really seem to care. Off the girl bounded to the plot of dirt beginning the difficult attempt at pulling out a monster weed all by herself. Phage grinned happily at his new helper. He got up and walked over to the plot too and took the base of the monster weed out of Lumina's hands. Taking the scythe he quickly and efficiently cut the large leaves of the weed off leaving the root easy to pull out. Lumina beamed up at him and pulled out the root so hard she fell back on her bottom. Phage laughed before setting to work on the rest of the small field.

They had spent more than two hours on the small plot. All the weeds were scattered around them and Lumina had already started picking them up and putting them into a trash can she had hauled outside from the house. Within those few hours, Phage had gotten to know the girl well. He knew that she was just teasing if she smiled at him and scrunched up her nose. He knew if she wasn't when she was scowling and her eyes were flashing with spirited anger. When the girl was smiling weakly, but the happy sentiment didn't reach her eyes, he knew that something was wrong. Phage now knew about her love for piano and that she was so afraid of failure she almost didn't want to play anymore.

"_Phage, I love to play piano but…I'm just so afraid of hitting the wrong notes, I don't want to upset grammy. I don't want to play anymore; piano isn't fun when you're afraid." _

"_Then don't be afraid, hit a wrong note once in a while. That's how you learn stuff, isn't it? From what you've been saying about your grammy, it sounds like she really loves you. I don't think she'll be mad. You should stop being afraid and just play for the fun of it. Don't stop, I still haven't heard you playing piano and I would be a sad panda if I didn't ever get to." Phage grinned sympathetically over at his younger counterpart. _

"_Thanks Phage, that's what I'll do. You can come and listen to me play tomorrow if you want!" Lumina was beaming now and Phage was happy, he didn't like to see the little angel upset._

Phage watched her drag the trash can over to the larger outside trash can and empty all the weeds into it. She smirked triumphantly and put the small bucket back inside the house before running outside and tackling her new found friend. The young male laughed at the tired girl lying on his chest. A few weeks ago he would have told the girl that she was weird, he didn't even know her, and that she should bug off. But now, Phage would never say something tothe girl, let alone think it. Now that he had gotten to know her, Phage had a habit of thinking about her as his little angel. He had even called her that if only he was speaking soft enough that nobody would hear him. Every time he called her that heavenly compliment, she would smile and blush a little. Phage was ten years older then her at the age of 20, and he felt more like a fatherly figure to her than like a friend. Soon he realized that she was sound asleep.

Phage looked at his watch and saw that it was 4:00 Pm. He shifted the sleeping girl in his arms so that he could stand up and carry her without waking her. The young man decided that he should probably take her home, it was getting late in the afternoon and he didn't want to worry Romana. He walked through the village and up the hill to the villa where his little angel lived. Phage knocked on the large oak doors politely and was let in by Sebastian the butler who served there.

"Oh, why hello Phage. What was Lumina up to? She looks worn out." Sebastian led Phage up the grand stair case, speaking softly.

"She came over to my farm and asked if she could help me with my chores. I let her and we had a blast. I might like to have her over another time." Phage said happily.

The 20-year-old carefully placed Lumina's sleeping form in the older man's arms and placed a soft kiss on the girl's forehead. Lumina smiled gently in her sleep and sighed as Sebastian carried her into her bedroom. The small cheerful girl and helped remove the bane of Phage's existence (weeds), and in Phage's book that would automatically make anyone his friend. So much for the god damn weeds.

Chapter 4 – **Smithie the banana tree **

Phage had set his alarm clock to about 8:30Am, so as not to wake up in the middle of the day once again. It was a bad habit that he needed to break as soon as possible. There was work to be done, and you didn't get that much work done when you wake up in the middle of the day. Phage was outside plowing up a good spot to plant his banana tree. When he finally planted the seed, watered it, and put some fertilizer on it…he was very tired. Walking over to the field, Phage hopped over the fence and fell to the ground in front of the large tree situated in the center of the pasture. The pale youth closed his eyes and sighed deeply, farming actually took effort. Phage decided that he did not like effort, effort was quite exhausting. Not only that, but when three little hangover induced hallucinations of talking garden gnomes are bugging you while you're trying to do your chores, well…that only makes effort a lot more annoying than it had been before.

"Um, Phage! Hey, where are you?"

_Holy shit! _Phage thought, what did Jack want now? Maybe he was here to beat him up for that stolen kiss the other night. That would be very, very bad. He laid still hoping that Jack wouldn't spot him in the grass. Suddenly there was a loud moo, and Bessie appeared above him, licking him vigorously on the face.

"Bessie! Stop!" He said in a fierce stage whisper.

That seemed to be enough however, for only a moment later, Jack appeared above him. Phage very afraid, looked up at the shorter male hoping that he would still live to see tomorrow.

"Uh, there you are…what are you doing lying down in the middle of the pasture?" Jack looked at him confusedly, offering a hand to help him up.

Phage uncertainly took the offered hand and said, "I was really tired and this is where I happened to fall."

Jack nodded and now that Phage as standing over him he blushed, "I'm, really sorry for running away from you the other night…I just, I've never been kissed before…and I guess I was kinda freaked out."

This was definitely a surprise; Phage had expected the small brunette to be upset, angry, and scary even. But here Jack was, apologizing to him.

"Its okay, I couldn't help myself, you were just too…cute." Phage was about to trail off when Jack looked up at him with a huge blush and a sheepish smile.

Before Phage could do anything, Jack had glomped him and wasn't letting go. The taller male smirked before returning the embrace, slightly gentler. After that they decided to meet later that night at the beach for a real date.

Later in the afternoon, Phage had been watering his new banana tree once more, and milking more money out of Bessie, and a strange voice popped into his head. '_Hello, thanks for watering me again, I was getting so horrendously thirsty I thought I'd wilt right there and then._' Said the intrusive voice.

At first, Phage ignored the voice and decided to go put away his tools and put the milk he had acquired into the shipping box. He was relieved to find more money in the money tin, and decided that maybe he would buy something from Van as a present for Jack. '_Why are you ignoring me? I feel so unloved…_' Phage feeling very frustrated thought that maybe if he answered the voice just this once it would go away and never bother him again. _Um, who are you and what are you doing in my head?_ '_Well, I'm Smithie your banana tree. _(At this Phage sniggered)_ I guess we have some sort of telepathic connection. I'm not sure who started it, but I think it might have been the harvest sprites._' _Oh…who are the harvest sprites?_ This was it, Phage knew it, the men in the long white coats would be here to pick him up and send him to the loony bin any day now. '_They're the small garden gnome like things that live in the spring near your house. They are much attuned to nature, and I think they think you needed a wake up call._' Phage laughed, _I don't need a wake up call._ '_Well, I think they think you do. It's probably because you've been so mean to them lately._' _I haven't been mean-_ '_So they've forged this connection between us so I can be a sort of conscious to you._' _A conscious? Great…_ '_You know Jiminy cricket? Like in that movie Pinocchio._'

"Whatever." Phage said aloud, he turned and looked over towards Smithie, and his jaw dropped, maybe he was just seeing things.

By now however, everything that happened to him in the past few days said otherwise. There stood Smithie, fully grown and producing pre-harvest flowers. '_Believe I'm me now?_' Smithie asked him. The leaves the tree shook mockingly under the influence of some non-existent wind. Phage smirked, now he just needed a seed maker and maybe he could…

"Phage! I need to talk to you a second." The old geezer came puffing up behind him, his hands on his knees.

"What is it?" Phage asked, turning around to look at his business partner.

"I saw this really interesting machine in town while I was selling your milk. It made seeds out of crops. If you can manage to scrape up 6,000 G I can probably order it from town and have it brought out here to the farm." Takakura exclaimed looking excitedly up at Phage who couldn't believe his luck.

"Sure, I'll definitely save up, I write down the order in the notebook as soon as I manage to save up that much money okay?" Takakura nodded and then left.

This day was turning out to be a really awesome one. Come to think of it, earlier that day he had been sulking in the fields afraid of being beaten up. Now he had a date with the guy he liked, a fully grown banana tree (also his conscious Smithie), and a really good reason to save up money. Phage dug around in his pocket, he ended up pulling out a thick wad of bills. The tall youth counted, he came up with 2,543 G. If he could save up 6,000 G he'd be making a lot more money.

Phage walked down towards the beach, trying to calm himself down. It was almost 8:00Pm the time they had decided to meet. The male had abandoned his smelly work clothes and put on a burgundy red muscle shirt and his cleanest cargoes. He attempted to comb down his spiky hair but failed miserably inevitably giving up. Phage had managed to find at least three different flowers, and tried very hard to arrange them in a way that would be eye-appealing to his new found mate. He had tied the arrangement of flowers up with some twine he had found lying around on the tool shed floor.

When he arrived at the beach he almost melted at the sight. There was Jack lying on the beach staring out into the ocean propped up on his elbows. His hair was hanging in front of his eyes, and he had changed from 'I'm the farmer not Phage' clothing style to a loose mocking t-shirt and some baggy pants that were hanging down below his navel, teasing Phage with a sight of the other male's exposed mid-riff.

"Hey…" Phage called out.

Jack looked up and at the sight of the home-made bouquet in Phage's hands; he scrambled to his feet and ran over to his date. He examined the bouquet and smiled, smelling the warm enticing perfume Jack looked up at Phage as if to ask if they were a gift for him. Phage nodded and handed the flowers to his date. Jack's smile got wider and he took the arrangement out of the taller male's hands.

"Thanks, I love it." Jack walked over to the picnic shelters, putting a little more wiggle-waggle in his walk than necessary.

But Phage could've cared less; the idea of Jack teasing him had him following like the horny puppy that he was. Soon they were both sitting under the picnic shelter lying next to each other silently surveying one another.

"You know, when you aren't dressed like you're the farmer not me, you look even more amazing than usual." Phage decided that wasn't his best line he had tossed to a date before, but then again he was just overwhelmed by Jack's presence that he didn't know what else to say.

Jack blushed and nervously brushed his fingers against the flowers in his hands. He looked up at Phage and opened his mouth to speak.

"You know, I was so nervous when I first met you I had no idea what to do. When I'm with strangers I usually come off as a smart ass because I don't really know what else to say. It had been such a long time since anyone new had ever really come here for good, I was kinda surprised when you came along." Jack had a strange expression on his face, it was almost like he was trying to frown and smile and the same time but not succeeding as gracefully as he would have liked.

Phage grinned at that and replied, "Its okay, I think I've said ruder things to old ladies that wouldn't get out of my way in the grocery line, so I think you're safe."

Jack laughed at this and putting the flowers above their head he snuggled closer, until he was comfortably resting his head against Phage's chest. Phage had to work extremely hard not to gasp at the contact. His heart starting racing and he felt this tingling feeling in his stomach that shot sparks to the rest of his body. His mind ordered him, _wrap your arms around him you idiot!_ Phage did as his mind told him. At this, Jack sighed in content. He had never really had a date like this before, Phage now realized. Mostly, the dates were with woman and they consisted of going to dinner and then going to the movies. The common and simple structure of pretty much everybody's date plans. It was easy and traditional. But now Phage was sure what to do. He was nervous, almost as though if he didn't one thing wrong Jack would break into a million pieces in his arms.

Phage laid his head down on top of Jack's and softly kissed his scalp, before nuzzling the soft brunette hair with his face. Jack chuckled slightly before moving his head up so he could look into Phage's eyes. At that moment Phage was paralyzed by Jack's movements, he knew that Jack most likely wanted to kiss him, but now that Jack actually wanted this Phage wasn't sure of himself. Jack took the initiative by claiming his mate's lips with his, Phage however incapable of starting the kiss at the moment could take over once it had been started. There tongues came together in sweet dance, Phage not trying to take it too far just in case Jack got nervous. Finally the need for air broke the kiss, and Jack his mouth still slightly parted closed his eyes in bliss. Phage loved that look on Jack's face. But he loved the fact that he had put the look on Jack's face more. Phage looked at his watch; it was already close to ten. He should probably take Jack back to the inn, if he didn't Ruby would get worried and then would most certainly punish Phage later. The 20-year-old explained the situation to Jack who then pouted.

"But I don't want to go home!" Jack whined, quickly grabbing his flowers as Phage lifted him up bridal style.

"Sure, you want to stay with me now Jack, but think about it. If you stay out late with me, then Ruby will get worried, find out you were with me and then track me down and brutally maim me. You know how much Ruby cares for you." Phage explained carrying him towards the inn.

"Yeah, but I wouldn't tell her that you were with me, and then she couldn't-"

"Jack, this is Ruby you're talking about. The all knowing woman, the omnipotent. She knows everybody in the valley and by process of elimination she'll find out it's me eventually. And _then_ she'll track me down and brutally maim me."

Jack sighed and hopped out of Phage's arms once they had reached the main door to the Inner inn. The small brunette looked up at his date longingly. Phage took the hint and leaned down to kiss him again, this time the kiss was shorter and gentler than before. The red-head pulled back and said good bye, and that they would meet again tomorrow. Jack smiled and hurriedly went into the inn.

Phage heard a soft moo behind him and whirling around, discovered that it was Bessie. He groaned to himself before patting her on the head and grabbing a firm hold on one of her small horns to make her follow. Bessie trotted alongside him reluctantly. Finally, when Phage had put her in the barn, fed her, and allowed her to kiss him good night it was 10:30. The male wandered into his house and collapsed onto his bed with a content but tired sigh. _Good night Smithie…_ '_Good night Phage…_'

Chapter 5 – **A supremely awesome life…**

Phage was decidedly happy. He had started harvesting bananas and making seeds, which of course were selling very well and Phage found himself rolling in money. Smithie proved to be no threat, and when Phage needed to just sit around and talk he would often go and sit in the shade Smithie provided and have long talks with him about the randomness of life. Bessie still disappeared whenever she felt like it, but Phage had managed to get her a collar with a bell on it. So if Phage ever needed to ship some milk he could just listen for the jingle of the bell on Bessie's collar. Most of the people in the valley had gotten used to the sight of a large normal cow trotting around the village or taking a nap outside of Inner Inn. The farmer had now accepted the fact that the garden gnomes (or harvest sprites as they preferred to be called) were in fact real beings not alcohol induced hallucinations. Just recently he had bought two chickens, a female and a male. The female had been named Scrambled; the male had been named Roasted. Phage did in deed have a twisted sense of humor. Every day Lumina would show up during the summer and help harvest the Bananas that she could and help put them in the seed maker. Phage and Jack were "together" and were getting slowly closer. The male found thoughts of marriage drifting through his mind every once and a while but wasn't sure about Jack, what was he feeling?

Phage had finished picking bananas, collecting seeds, shipping milk, finding eggs, and stocking his fridge with things from around the valley. He gave Bessie a final pat on the head and then hurried towards the Inner Inn. Phage really needed to talk to Jack about where their relationship was headed. Okay, so usually Phage didn't think about this kind of stuff, but he really cared for Jack, he might even love him and he didn't want that to go away. He found Jack sitting in his room on the second floor, writing in his journal. At the sound of someone entering, Jack closed the large book and set down his pen.

"Hi love." Jack stood up and made his way over to Phage where they shared a long passionate kiss.

When they broke apart Phage knew now more than ever he needed to broach the subject.

"Jack, I was just wondering…"

"Yes?"

"Where do you see this heading? I mean, I love how we are now but…what about the future. Don't you want to you know…maybe think about living together or something?" Phage knew that he was skipping around the topic of marriage but at least he had gotten to the point of moving in.

Jack smiled and squealed excitedly, almost squeezing the life out of his boyfriend.

"I would love to move in with you Phage! Oh my god! You have no idea how long I've been waiting for you to think of it!"

Phage blushed a deep red, so Jack had already been thinking of moving in with him? Great, he really wanted to talk about the other…thing…but now he thought that would be rushing it a little. So Phage decided maybe that he should live with Jack for a while to see what it would be like waking up to him every morning, and coming home to him after a day of work on the farm…the fantasies in his mind only stated bliss but Phage still needed to be sure.

Later that afternoon, Phage was sitting on his bed watching Jack run around his house like an excited ten year old on Christmas. _You'd think by the way he's bouncing off the walls that he's never been in my house before…_ '_Yes, but he's never been in your house knowing that he's going to be living there, has he?_' _You're probably right Smithie._

"You like it that much huh?" Phage laughed, moving his arms so that he would be prepared for Jack as he tackled him.

"Well, it's not everybody's dream home, but if I'm living here with you its _my_ dream home." Jack said happily, snuggling into Phage's chest.

Phage loved the moment he was living in right then. The happy moment was interrupted by the sound of the two males' stomachs growling.

"So, uh…what's for dinner?" Jack asked, smirking.

"The usual and what you will probably having for the next long while unless you decide to take dinner into your own hands: Mugwort fish." Phage said in mock cheerfulness.

Jack sighed but smiled anyway, "I'll get the stuff out okay, I think your banana tree is going to get mad at you if you don't go water it."

Phage watched in shock as Jack bounded the short distanced to the kitchen area and start pulling out random things from the fridge. _How does he know about you Smithie?_ '_Uh, sorry Phage but I couldn't help it. I had to make sure he was good enough for you! So I introduced myself…and we had a lovely conversation. I say you have impeccable taste…_' _Smithie…You were worried about whether or not Jack was good enough for me? What are you, my mother now?_ '_Why do I feel as though I'm suddenly on the Jerry Springer show?_' _Shut up!_

Phage went outside and after getting out his watering can he proceeded to water Smithie even thought he was probably would have survived until tomorrow at noon. But whatever, Smithie was giving him **the look. **Whatever, Phage went back inside and saw that Jack had already started cooking two servings of the dish.

"Is Smithie less grumpy now?" Jack asked pleasantly, turning around to deposit one fish onto each plate before pouring the mugwort sauce onto both.

Phage came and sat down at the table in his usual place, nodding. He waited for Jack to sit down before taking a bite of his fish. The food he had been eating for the past several weeks tasted much better in his mouth than it had in a while. There was something different in the way that it tasted.

"Hey, did you do something different to the fish; it tastes a lot better than it had before." Phage curiously poked the fish with his fork.

"Silly, I only added a bit of milk and some pepper to the recipe. That's how I was taught to make it." Jack smiled at him before wolfing down the rest of his fish, Phage following suite.

"I need to go check up on all the animals then I'm going to bed because I have to wake up early. The alarm goes off at 7:30Am, I'm warning you now so I don't want to hear any whines in the morning." Phage pointed his fork at Jack threateningly.

Jack snickered slightly before cleaning up the dinner mess while Phage headed out to check up on the farm as he had said he would. Bessie was sleeping in the pasture, while Scrambled and Roasted were eating dinner in the chicken coop. When Phage asked, Smithie replied that he was in fact fine and that he didn't need anything. After that, Phage checked on the milk he had put in the shipping box, every one that he had put in there was still where he had left it. Looking at the notebook and the order sheet there wasn't really anything that Phage could think that they would need. So he headed back to the house. Once inside, he locked up made sure Bob and Joe were lying in the dog bed he had got for them and then got dressed for bed. When Phage got 'dressed for bed' that usually meant taking his shirt and shoes off and then collapsing on top of his bed.

When he felt someone push him against the wall and then pull the covers up and over him, Phage was about to growl before he realized it was just Jack crawling into bed. The red-head smiled and looked over at his alarm lock turning on the auto-alarm he fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

The next morning, the alarm went off and Phage reached over to pound it into submission as usual. This required a little more effort than it commonly did because the task now involved reaching an arm around Jack. Phage removed Jack's arms from his waist and with cat like skill crawled over him and off the bed. The taller male was pleased with his job well done at avoiding waking Jack. He put back on the same shirt as yesterday, pulled on his shoes and back pack then started to head out the door.

"Eat breakfast." Jack said tiredly from his place in bed.

"But I have work to do! And you, you're supposed to be asleep!" Phage pointed in an accusatory fashion in Jack's direction.

"Whatever, but I expect you to eat breakfast before noon." Jack grumbled, before turning back over in bed.

Phage left the house without eating breakfast, and started his chores for the day. He never ate breakfast in the morning. Didn't Jack know that? It kept him from starting on work right away. Whatever… Phage walked over to Smithie and watered him, put some fertilizer around his roots before walking towards the chicken coop. He had made up his mind. He patted both poultry on the heads before deftly collecting the eggs that he found beneath Scrambled. After that he found Bessie and milked her, getting about four bottles of milk or so. Phage gave her a good rub behind the ears and a kiss on the forehead before heading back into the house. Jack was sitting stubbornly at the table.

"I told you to eat breakfast!" Jack said, pouting and crossing his arms over his bare chest.

"I know, and I am. I just went to get us the ingredients for breakfast." Phage retorted, getting out a skillet and setting down his back pack.

Phage cracked open two eggs and poured in a little milk. After that he expertly mixed the eggs until he somehow ended up with scrambled eggs. Mixing in the chopped ferns he had found the other day, Phage soon brought the skillet to the table where he put it on top of a cooling plate. He picked out two forks and two plates, setting one of each in front of his boyfriend. He then brought the spatula over to the table from the kitchen counter and served some to Jack and some for him. Then he sat down and challenged Jack to say anything about him not eating breakfast. When Jack gave him a satisfied but still unhappy pout, Phage started eating his concoction. The fern actually tasted well mixed in with the eggs.

"Phage, I love you." At that moment Phage almost choked on his bit of egg, actually spitting some back on to his plate as to save himself from his death.

Jack looked at him panicked, with a slight hint of regret on his features.

Phage took a deep breath before responding with a sort of rasp to his voice, "Yeah, I love you too Jack."

Jack still didn't look quite so reassured, Phage gave him an 'I'm okay I just almost died via choking on scrambled eggs with fern' smile. Jack returned the grin with one of his own and continued eating his breakfast.

After breakfast, Phage watched Jack wander around the farm, eventually sitting beneath Smithie writing in his journal. Phage swore that for the rest of the day Jack was glowing. The smile of pure happiness never left his face. And Phage was glad, he was about to finish putting some more milk in the shipping box and go sell some seeds to Van when the harvest sprites showed up around his ankles.

"What's up?" He asked them, closing up the shipping box.

"Phage we found something really cool!"

"Yeah, it's a blue feather!"

"You're supposed to give it to someone you really like so I want to give it to you Phage!"

"No, I want to give it to him!"

"No, I do!"

"I do!"

"**Shut Up!**"

All three harvest sprites looked up at the frustrated man and then silently led him to their tree home. There, they showed him the feather that they had been arguing over giving to him. Phage accepted it and was about to go home when Takakura came up to him and told him that he had found a blue feather in the tool shed. The youth tried desperately to rain in his shock while waiting for the older man to show up.

"Those are really hard to come by. Here we use them as a sign of engagement. Usually you get them for the girl you want to marry and then you have a private ceremony. We don't have very fancy weddings here." Takakura explained.

Phage shook his head as though he had no idea as to how it got there.

"I would feel bad for your friend Jack. I mean where is he gonna go when you finally settle down with a nice girl? I doubt your wife would want your best friend living with you." After hearing Takakura say this, Phage finally decided he should tell the poor old man the truth.

"Jack is my boyfriend, Takakura and eventually I'm going to ask him to marry me. I'm not going to 'settle down with a nice girl'." Phage said crisply, looking over a very shocked Takakura.

"Oh, I'm so sorry. If I had known I wouldn't have said anything…" Takakura left him standing there alone at the entrance from the spring path to the farm.

"Whatever…" Phage sighed and headed over to Van's store booth.

"Hi Phage, you're here to sell seeds I presume?" Van asked.

"Yep. The seeds turned out pretty good this past collection." Phage said casually.

Recently, Takakura had saw him having difficulties taking the large crates full of banana seeds into town. The next day, Takakura had shown up with a young healthy horse and a sturdy wooden cart and harness. Phage had named the horse 'Born Free' but usually called him 'free' for short.

Phage walked over to the back of the cart and started unloading the large crates full of seeds, setting them over in front of Van. Van's face split into a large grin at the sight of the high quality seeds. Phage knew that he and Van were now immersed in a business together. Phage brought him high quality banana seeds by the dozens which Van paid a large price for. Then Van would go the next town over where they were really gullible and sell them for double the price. Both men were making substantial money through the arrangement. Van now expected Phage every one of his business days. The red-headed male then came back to stand in front of Van crossing his arms over his chest.

"So how many seeds do we have here, Phage?"

"72 S quality Banana seeds, Van. That's what you have." Van's eyes grew wide he hurried to get his money box.

Phage watched the obese man waddle over to his stand under the sun cover, to unlock his money box. From there, he pulled out a large tray filled with purple bills. Each bill was worth 1500 G. Phage watched in pure bliss as Van counted out 72 purple bills, which he then handed to Phage.

"There you are Phage, that's 1500 G for each seed package, coming to a total of 108000 G." Van smiled, loading his precious Banana seeds into a large box underneath his sun cover.

Phage took the money and put it safely into his wallet. The youth nodded at Van, shook hands with the man and then turned Free in the direction of home. Phage led Free (who was pulling the cart) down the path and around the corner onto Myishi Farm. When they got there, Phage took Free's harness off, and removed the rains from his face, before turning him out into the pasture.

Phage walked over to where Jack was sitting writing in his journal, and collapsed next to him. Jack looked up at him and then snuggled into his shoulder, closing his journal and setting it down on the ground next to him.

"Guess what I have?" Phage asked in a sing song voice.

"Tone-deafness?" Jack replied.

Phage playfully hit his boyfriend on the shoulder before pulling out the thick bundle of purple bills. Jack's eyes widened.

"In my hands, my friend is 108000 G! We have enough money to get a milk room, a food processing room, another room for the house, and at least 2 star cows! Maybe even some more fruit trees and another seed maker. This farm can finally become successful, Jack!" In his happiness, Phage claimed the lips of his boyfriend.

Phage deepened the kiss by pushing his tongue into Jack's mouth and stroking his boyfriends tongue sensuously with his own. Jack moaned and kissed back. When the need for air broke the kiss Phage smiled down at Jack before running over to the tool shed. He knew now more than ever that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with Jack. Not only did he love the brunette but he now knew that he had means to take care of him till death do they part. Phage emerged from the tool shed holding the blue feather behind his back, Jack was still sitting under Smithie's large strong branches with a confused but happy look on his face.

"What do you have there, Phage?" Jack asked playfully.

Phage came up to him, and got down on bended knee, "Jack, I love you more than anything on this planet. I now know that I want to spend the rest of my life with you, and I want to care for you and love you, so I don't know if I put this in your hair or whatever but will you marry me?" Phage took the blue feather out from behind his back.

Jack looked close to tears, the smile on his face and the look in Jack's eyes told Phage that the answer was yes. The 20 year old took the blue feather and placed it gently in Jack's scraggly brown locks of hair. Phage never would have thought in a million years that he would be here right now, living like this, and loving the man in front of him. But what the hell. The beginning of a supremely awesome life most definitely started that day for Phage and Jack.

**TBC…**


	2. Chapter 2

Happy birthday to **ME**…

Chapter 1 – **Marital Bliss…**

Phage was currently attempting to escape the house without having to eat breakfast, but as usual didn't succeed. The ominous threat of his beloved wielding a frying pan scared him more than anything. He let Jack drag him into the kitchen where he sat down next to a smiling four year old, and opposite of a one year old in a high chair. Aw, most would say. But Phage knew better than to waste precious time fawning over his two children. Right now he needed to eat, and then head out to start work on the farm. There was so much work he had to do, he was afraid that he was going to scream. At least Lumina still dropped by to help him. James, Phage and Jack's four year old son was currently sitting silently waiting patiently for his food. James's younger sister however was screaming all the while the only word she knew: shit. It was her first word, and while Jack and any other parent in their right mind would be horrified Phage had been so proud of his little daughter learning such a valuable word so early. The reason that Amelia (their daughter) had learned the word in the first place was simply this:

_Phage had had a hard day, as much as he loved the success of the farm and the money load he was getting from it, it took a lot of work. That work took a lot of time out of his day, time he could be spending with his family but…"Holy Shit!" Phage suddenly exclaimed as he ran his toe into a block that his daughter had been playing with. The man was shocked out of the pain at the sound of his precious baby girl repeating the phrase in all its glory. "That's my girl!" Phage said enthusiastically sitting down beside her and ruffling her brownish orange hair. _

Jack came back to the table with a large plate of French toast, bacon, scrambled eggs, and freshly squeezed orange juice. James took two pieces of French toast, one handful of bacon, and waited for his 'daddy' to serve him some scrambled eggs. Amelia had first priority on scramble eggs, because it was one of the few breakfast foods soft enough for her to chew with her new teeth. Phage looked back on when he had found out that Jack had been pregnant with James. Or more reasonably that Jack could get pregnant at all.

_Phage was very worried, even though Jack had hit him with a frying pan so many times to stop worrying that Phage had lost count. Currently his brunette 'babe' as Phage liked to call him was hurling out all the food he had eaten in the past 24 hours into the toilet. It had been like this for a week so far. Even though Jack had protested, Phage had insistently put him on the B.R.A.T. diet. Bananas.Rice.Applesauce.Toast. The stuff that was easiest to keep down when you were sick. Finally Phage took him to Hardy who now lived in Nina and Galen's house. Phage was now waiting outside of Hardy's house sitting on the ground thinking through all the worst case scenarios. Jack was dying of some disease inflicted upon him by the milk of the grumpy cow Jelly that Phage had finally just gotten milk from. Or possibly-_

_"Phage!" Hardy called._

_Phage shot up to his feet and hurried into the building._

_"What's wrong Hardy? Is he dying? I knew it, and you know whose fault it is? Jelly's, she's the grumpy cow, she must've given me bad milk because she's grumpy!" _

_"If it was anybody's fault it would be yours, oh loveable worry wart of mine." Jack said simply, "I'm pregnant."_

_Phage stopped his rambling for a minute, "Wait, hold on just a second my love did you fail biology when you were in school?"_

_"No, I didn't," Jack looked slightly offended, "It was the harvest sprites, they spiked our wine on the night of our 'honey moon' with some of their weird potiony stuff." _

_"Oh, I'm going to murder them in their sleep!" Phage shook his fist at invisible garden gnomes._

_"Why Phage? This means we don't have to adopt!" Jack smiled from his place at the patient's bed. _

_Phage gave up the scowl and came up behind his lover to rub his shoulders and neck. _

_"You're right, this is a good thing. But I still have to maim them for spiking our honey moon wine…wait, I drank that wine too…" Phage looked like he might faint._

_"You are never going to take me, you hear me Jack? _Never…_" Phage told him. _

Phage wolfed down his food, and then shot out of his chair. He ruffled James's hair affectionately, receiving a giggle from the usually silent boy. The father kissed the 'mother' and on his way to the door kissed his baby girl on the forehead. Phage headed outside to find Lumina already there picking fruits and gently putting them in a hand basket.

"Hello my angel!" Phage called.

Lumina turned and beamed at him before calling out, "Hello my fruit!"

Ever since Phage had gone through the town and told every one that he and Jack had gotten married, Lumina had been slightly disappointed but still was his best friend. One day she had decided that if he was going to marry Jack than he had to let her call him 'fruit'. It was pretty ironic considering that his main profit came off of selling fruit seeds.

"When did you get here?" Phage asked her picking up an empty fruit basket of his own.

"Well, I woke up really early this morning for some reason I'm not sure of," The fourteen-year-old replied, "I was really bored, and I didn't feel like painting so I got here a couple hours early. But think of all the work I've gotten done Phage! I've already filled up two seed makers, I've checked on the cows groomed all of them. I've fed all the ducks and chickens and collected eggs. I've already shipped all of the milk I found in the milking room. All that's left to do is pick the fruit from the lemon tree like we are now and put it in the remaining seed makers."

Phage looked appreciatively over at the girl who faithfully helped him day in and day out. Though her work came at a tall price of 10 G per hour, Phage thought he could handle it. He winked at her as she started carrying her now full basket towards the tool shed. Myishi farm was now a huge success. They rake in over 100,000 G every season of the year from fruit seed sales alone. Than there was the cheese, butter, and milk sales all of the highest quality got at least over 20,000 G in town every season. That didn't include all of the crops and dairy products they kept for themselves in the fridge. Every season they produced so many different high quality vegetables they didn't feel like selling that they kept them all. They had to have food for themselves, right? Currently in spring they were finishing up the strawberry, and potato harvest while beginning the growth of tomatoes, and watermelons. All year round they always had what they needed, and never went without a meal. If the farm suddenly dipped in production Phage had a good sized amount of money in the bank.

"Alright, if you give me your basket I can go put those away now and then you'll be done. You can have a free day with your family. Goodness knows you haven't had a family day since Jack dragged you in on Valentines Day." Lumina smirked at him before roughly taking the basket out of his hands and carrying it towards the tool shed.

Phage grinned at her before pulling out a two 100 G bills. Lumina really deserved it this time, he hadn't asked her to show up early, or do all of his work. In fact, all he usually asked her to help out with was fruit picking, but apparently she had this all planned out ahead of time. This was her reason for waking up so early. Lumina walked out of the tool shed and was about to leave when Phage stopped her. He pressed the two bills in her hands even though Lumina protested that she had done this all as a gift to him, Phage ignored her. After he had put the money firmly in her hands he shoved her off of the farm and ordered her to go into town and buy herself something nice.

Phage groaned that girl was almost too modest at times. He walked back into the house and had to make a gap between his legs to avoid a gleeful four year old dashing out the door two full grown beagle-whippet mixes hot on his pursuit. Bob and Joe were a decent size now and around four years old, but they hadn't lost any of their puppyish like enthusiasm over the years. Phage smirked and closed the door. The man walked over to his daughter who was sitting on the floor coloring something that looked very much like him and her outside sitting around Smithie's roots. It was very good for a one year old really. Phage ran his hand tenderly over her gorgeous hair that was currently up in adorable pig tails. At that precise moment, Jack walked in, his apron still on he couldn't help 'awwing' at the sight. Phage looked up as did Amelia. The cavity cute moment was ruined by Amelia proudly saying 'Holy Shit' at the top of her lungs. Phage laughed loud at his daughter's impeccable timing. Jack frowned deeply; he had never liked the fact that Phage had encouraged their daughter to swear at such a young age.

"What are you doing in here if you have 'so much work to do'?" Jack asked sourly.

"Lumina woke up really early and surprised me by getting all of the work done so that I could have a family day with you guys." Phage replied in a mocking sort of tone as if to imitate his husband.

"Oh, sometimes I really don't know what I'm going to do with you!" Jack exclaimed hitting his mate over the head with a dirty kitchen rag.

Amelia laughed and crawled into her dad's lap. In less than a minute she was curled against his chest, snoring loudly, officially dead to the world. Phage found great amusement in watching his daughter sleep. She snored so loud that sometimes she would wake herself up with her own snoring, then she would loudly proclaim to the world 'Holy Shit!', then roll back over and go back to sleep. Many of the people who lived in the valley said that she would be the cutest baby they had ever seen if it wasn't for her potty mouth. It had taken Phage a while to comprehend exactly why that would be a problem and why everybody **didn't** think that his daughter was the cutest baby in the world.

"Stop hitting me with your cleaning rags! You've been married to me for four years now; you'd think you'd know that I'm like this!" Phage exclaimed in a stage whisper.

"I do know you're like this, but I still can be frustrated by it!" Jack said in the same stage whisper voice.

Amelia twitched in her sleep and both parents held their breaths. But when Amelia didn't wake up they went right back to fighting.

"How come you can be frustrated by things that I do, but I can't be frustrated about the things you do?" Phage asked harshly.

"I never said you couldn't!"

"Yeah but whenever I am you guilt me into feeling bad about getting angry, and then when you get angry I'm just supposed to take it in stride! That's not fair!" Phage said.

"I cannot make you feel guilty about something, that's your choosing." Jack told him, his hands were now on his hips, a sign that he was starting to get really angry.

"Well than I can't make you get frustrated, that _your_ choosing!" Phage retorted.

Jack's eyes were blazing, "Why do you always have to mock me like that? Its immature and just plain annoying!"

"Why do you always have to get pissed by some little thing!" Phage asked, abandoning the fierce battle whisper they had been using before.

"I don't get pissed off by some little thing!" Jack shouted back.

By now Amelia was awake, sniffling quietly. But after Jack had shouted she couldn't take it anymore and openly started crying at the frightening noise that her parents were making.

"Now look what you've done, you've woken up the baby because you couldn't leave something alone!" Jack shouted, taking Amelia from Phage's arms.

Jack left the room, cooing gently to his baby trying to make her tears stop as maternal instinct took over.

"Sure, everything is always **my** fault!" Phage got up and kicked the wall.

So much for a family day! If Lumina found out that he had seriously screwed up any family happy-togetherness that she had worked hard for him to achieve, then she would be really angry with him. Phage walked outside and hopped over the fence and stormed into the middle of the pasture where he promptly fell to the ground and seethed to himself. This was how he handled fights with Jack. They would scream at each other as quietly as possible, until both of them snapped. Then they would storm off to each of their respective hiding places where they would both cool off. Later that day Phage would inevitably give up and crawl on hands and knees into the kitchen where Jack would sit in a bad mood and beg for forgiveness. That was how it always went. But right now Phage tried to ignore his fate by lying in the middle of the pasture right next the pond he had installed a couple of years ago. It wasn't long before Bessie was came over and instantly with her commanding 'moo' ordered all the other cows to come over as well. Once the whole herd had arrived they all lay around him as if to form a protective wall. Bessie as usual lay right next to him, every once in a while lapping at his face. It was amazing really, that his cows were sensitive to how he was feeling, and tried so hard to make him feel better, and to protect him. They were cows, for god's sakes! _But good cows, nonetheless…_Phage looked back on how his life had been four years ago, before he had showed up in Forget-me-not valley. He would go to work where he worked in some fancy office as something or other, late at night he would go to bars and pick up one-night-stands and then the next morning would start the whole process over again. Back then he really had not reason to live; now he did. Phage had a family, one that he loved. He had husband, and two children whom he loved more than anything in the whole world. Even though Jack thought otherwise, Phage hated fighting with him. He didn't like to see the beautiful brunette upset. But then again, Phage realized, they needed to fight to have a healthy relationship. If they didn't fight than that meant they really didn't know anything about each other and weren't comfortable enough with each other to fight. It they were happy all the time, well, that would just be scary.

Phage woke up not really remembering having fallen asleep. The reason why he was waking up, James had wandered into the field and told him that dinner was ready and that 'daddy' wanted him to come home right away. Phage got up and stepped over the wall of cows that had protected him from the outside world, that wall was now fast asleep. The orange-haired man scooped up his son in his arms and looked at him, actually truly looked at him for the first time that day. He had Jack's hair but Phage's face and eyes. James was more like his 'daddy' in the way he acted, obedient, patient, and quiet. Much unlike his younger sister. Amelia had a mix between Jack and Phage's hair, but had Jack's sweet face, and Phage's attitude as well as vocabulary. Phage loved both of his children so much he could barely suck air. Soon He had walked into the house where he set down his son and together they walked into the kitchen. Jack had prepared fish stew, Ruby's special curry, and a lovely fruit salad. He had also brought out a large pitcher of star milk. He poured a substantial amount of milk into everyone's glasses and then sat down, deciding that Phage should serve the children that night. And Phage did, he picked up the ladle in the fish stew and carefully served some into Amelia's baby bowl, and put some curry on the side. He then served some stew and curry to James, while putting a good healthy portion of salad on the boy's side plate as well. After that Phage got out of his seat and poured the stew (unasked) into Jack's bowl, put some salad on his side plate which he cut up for him (as he had for James) and served him just the right amount of curry. Phage served himself last, and then waited for Jack to take a bite before eating. He could tell that he was doing all of the right things, as Jack looked a little less smug than he had when Phage had walked in.

After dinner, Phage softly told Jack to stay seated, and that the small brunette wouldn't be cleaning up that night. While Phage cleaned up the dinner, Jack sat stubbornly at the table, trying to fight the overwhelming urge to apologize for the way he had acted earlier that day.

"James, could you get your sister ready for bed, please? And then make sure that she gets to sleep?" It was more of an instruction than a request, and James followed through dutifully.

Phage then picked Jack up bridal style and carried him into the bathroom where he closed and locked the door behind them. The taller male slowly undressed his love, before starting a bath into which he poured Jack's favorite bath oil. Soon the bath was full of warm water that smelled of lavender and lemons. Phage picked up Jack and carefully set him down in the bath. Jack let his husband keep going, knowing that this was his way of apologizing for being such an ass earlier. Phage poured water he had coupled in his hands onto Jacks soft hair. Then he picked up Jack's favorite shampoo and poured some into his hands. He worked his fingers in soothing circles on Jack's sensitive scalp. After he was done washing Jack's hair he started on washing the rest of his body with the same bath oil that he had put into the bath water.

When Phage had finished washing Jack all over, he drained the bath and picked Jack out of the tub, and then dried him off gently with one of the fluffy white towels hung up on the towel rack. Phage looked adoringly at Jack, then he kissed his mate deeply, in that one kiss he pleaded for forgiveness. The shorter male responded by kissing him back, wrapping his arms around the neck of his mate.

When they broke apart for air Jack whispered, "I'm sorry I was so frustrated with you earlier it's just, I've been so stressed about the kids and the farm. This is our busiest season, and I know that you've been working so hard…I've missed you."

"Its alright, Lumina finished harvesting the last fruits of the season today. All we have to do now is the animal work and selling seeds to Van." Phage smiled as Jack nuzzled his face into that crook in the taller male's neck that he always did.

"How bout this? After the chores are done tomorrow, which shouldn't take long, (I'll wake up extra early) you, the kids and I go into town and go shopping." Phage suggested.

Jack nodded against his neck, and Phage quickly dressed him before taking him into the bedroom/living room/entry way and put him in bed. Ah, the sweet beauty of marital bliss…

Chapter 2 – **Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy**

Phage sluggishly slumped into the kitchen, after many tiring minutes he had finally gotten the kids to settle down and go to bed. Jack was happily floating around the kitchen, deciding where everything that he had bought would go. The brunette male had gone and literally bought out Pier 1 Imports, Hallmark, and any other interior design store that you could imagine. Phage however exhausted he was, enjoyed the sight of Jack happily decorating their kitchen to the best extent that he could at the moment. The taller man knew that his husband wanted to go shopping and buy nice things for the house, and new clothes for the children, and things. They certainly had more than enough money, but Phage didn't really want Jack to buy something farming related thinking that it would be a help. Phage liked the way the farm was now, he wasn't interested in any new tools, however much of a help they might be. His mate knew this, and thusly had kept quiet about how much he had wanted to go shopping. But when the opportunity was offered to him, Jack took it and then bought all that he could, knowing that it would probably be his last chance for a very long while.

"Thanks so much for taking us shopping, honey! I just love all of the things you bought me. Look at this; finally we can have some **color** in this room other than brown." Jack continued on his mission to decorate ever inch of the kitchen while he talked.

Phage smiled, "You're welcome, dear. But think about the kids, was stopping by the candy factory really the best idea?"

"Come to think of it, probably not. But when was the last time you've seen them **that** happy? You know that you haven't spent that much time with us in weeks. Couldn't you hire some help or something? You know we have the money." Jack insisted, Phage knew suddenly that this was very important to his mate for the brunette instantly stopped decorating.

"Jack, no. I don't want this to turn into a non-family business farm. I don't want to hire workers. Before you mention her, Lumina volunteered, and she's my best friend that's why I allow her to help me. Normally I would have shoved her off the farm, but you know that Lumina would give me hell until I did let her work." Phage explained, coming up in front of his husband and wrapping loving arms around his shoulders.

"But you know that **I'll** give you hell about getting workers until you do!" Jack ripped himself from Phage's arms.

Phage almost didn't know what to do; Jack was dead set on him getting farm hands. The orange-haired youth really didn't want farm hands damn it! Why couldn't Jack just leave it alone? Phage stopped that train of thought, he really didn't want to get angry at Jack now, that would just start a fight and the kids were trying to sleep or otherwise. He turned around, trying to find a peaceful way to sort this out and get what he wanted when he heard soft whimpers escaping a huddled up figure. Phage's face immediately turned from calculating to worry as he went up behind his love and wrapped his arms around him.

"I just want to be able to see you during the day, instead of for a few minutes before bed." Phage reasoned that actually he was with Jack for probably a couple of hours before bed but decided that now wouldn't be the best time to mention it, "Jack I love you, you know that. But I don't want our farm to become a corporation or anything."

"The only reason you're saying no to this is because you're stubborn and you don't want things to (god forbid) **change**! Why can't we just hire a few workers? I'm not asking you to haul out a farm 'crew' of fifteen men! I'm just asking for maybe six workers at the most to do the bigger chores that take you all day." Jack looked up at Phage with **the look**.

Jack was giving him **the look**, the one that said "If you don't do as I say you won't get any for the next several years!" Phage knew Jack could hold to his word too; if Jack was gonna hold out on him for a year, than he would.

"Fine, I'll go find some guys tomorrow." Phage groaned, he hated doing this, in fact he hated that Jack had won.

Phage would not forget this; he was not going to be pleasant for the next several days.

By next afternoon, Phage had finished chores by himself, and secured six trustworthy, hard working, reliable farm hands. Now he was simply showing them how things were done, and what had to be done. They were listening well, asking questions when they didn't understand something, and even offered suggestions about how they could speed up the process. Maybe Jack was right, getting some help wasn't such a bad idea after all.

"Your first job however, before you start on any of the chores is to build a small dormitory over there that will fit you all but will only have the necessities I do not want a mansion. I'm thinking probably one bedroom with three bunk beds, and two bathrooms of good size, and a living room that's comfortable so that you're moral doesn't sink…you with me?" Phage smiled at them, and some of them chuckled but most were thankful.

"I've ordered the necessary supplies, and I have here a layout for you, so you know what goes where and pretty much how that's all going to work. The supplies and tools will be here tomorrow morning around ten in the morning. For now I have tents set up over there for you. We will provide you with meals, breakfast is around 7:34Am, lunch is at noon, and dinner about 6:35Pm. If there's anything you need food wise, I'm sure my husband and I will be out to bring you snacks or drinks of the like. If you see a four year old running around the farm, don't mind him that's my son James. But if he comes too near the power tools I would much appreciate it if you point him in a different direction." Phage looked around, thinking if there was anything else, "Well, I can't think of anything else that I needed to cover. Is there any questions?"

Phage noticed one hand up in the air and called upon its owner, "Yes?"

"I must have heard incorrectly, I thought I heard you say husband, you did say wife right?" He asked.

Phage's smile grew wider at that point when he replied confidently, "No, I said husband. In fact there he is now! Jack, honey come and meet the farm hands will you, they were your idea after all!"

Jack came over; he had been out to town to buy some more food considering they would be having some very hungry guests. He smiled at the six men that would be living on the farm from now on.

"Hello, I'm Jack, Phage's husband. I'm your cook and food provider so if there's anything in that department you need to know about than just ask me. I'll send James out to bring you some water or something every once in a while if you would like it." Jack nodded at them before kissing Phage on the cheek and heading into the house.

The one who had asked the 'husband' question grinned nervously and nodded back to Jack.

"Alright, I'll see you at the kitchen table; dinner will probably be ready in about a half hour." Phage nodded to them before heading into the house.

The next day, Phage wandered out at about 9:30Am to find the workers had already started on his chores. They had probably gotten really bored as they appeared to be almost finished. The six men had shown up for breakfast and had a little bit of dirt on their clothes and arms.

"How's it going guys?" He asked.

Several of them turned, but not all of them.

"It going fine boss, you can go back to bed if you want!" Called one of them, "We've got everything under control." Said another, "The seeds are ready to be taken into town would you like me to handle that?"

Phage nervously scratched the back of his neck before replying to one of them, "No, I'll take the seeds over to Van when he actually **shows up**, thanks."

"Who's Van?" They asked in unison.

Oh my god they're like the bobsy twins. They paused what they were doing and came to stand in front of him.

"He's the traveling salesman who comes into town on the 3rd and the 8th of the month. He should be here by around noon or one. I don't take the seeds into the city, I take them to Van. We've done business together for a while, and he gives me really good money for the seeds. And no, none of you will be taking the seeds into town, I will. That's the one thing I will not let you do. Mostly because it has to do with farms money, and I need to make sure **myself** that each seed gets to Van safely and that all the money gets to **me** safely." Phage told them.

The bobsy twins nodded at him and were about to continue their work when Phage stopped them.

"I need to know your names, because really, I don't want to have to call you the bobsy twins however appropriate that might be." Phage listened to their names, before taking out a permanent marker and wrote it on their t-shirts.

"Okay, there we are, Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy. Got it." Phage dismissed them to go back to their work and then decided he would go back inside until the supplies came.

Phage had gotten to take a bath with his family, and eat a 'wholesome' snack provided by Jack before he had to go back outside to wait for the building supplies. They came promptly at 10:00Am as they said they would. He called the guys over so they could have a look at the massive amount of construction things that had been given to them.

"There you are, you can move them over there, because you will be building this new home of yours right there." Phage pointed to the large empty spot in between the large fertile plot of soil and the edge of the farm facing the trail that leads to the forest spring.

That space had always been there, it was garish and empty, and well annoying Phage dared to notice it. A tree would have to be taken out, but Phage knew before hand that it was not one of Jack's reading trees, or James's for that matter. It was safe to take it out. Phage was sincerely amused at watching the bobsy twins oh so diplomatically trying to figure out how they would move the junk as they had dubbed their building supplies.

About three weeks later, the dormitory had been finished. All the while during the building, Jack had scurried out to the guys and fussed over them, giving them snacks and lemonade and wet wash cloths so they could wash their faces. Very soon after the construction work had been started, Jack had become known to the farm hands as 'mother hen' because of his mothering habit. Phage knew that they were good workers, but they hadn't experienced one of the busiest harvest seasons yet. They had no idea the terror. So, Phage waited, fall was their second busiest season of the year for fruit sales, they had seven fall harvesting trees, and six seed makers. Phage was interested in how the men would tackle the project really. He wandered into the dormitory one afternoon, still amazed at how well Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy had built their home. The lush peach carpet on the living room floor was well taken care of, and the grand fireplace had the signs of well use. In the bunk rooms, the wood floor was kept clean, and so were the bathrooms, while beds were made every morning. Jack currently wasn't aware that the dormitory was decorated in any way shape or form. It was probably a good thing that he didn't know. The feisty home décor obsessed brunette would commandeer the dormitory and take all of the bobsy twins shopping for painting prints, and furniture, TVs, book cases (with books to be put on them of course), knick knacks, and all sorts of things. He would drive the guys insane. However much Phage knew Steve, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy loved their 'mother hen' they couldn't take a day of shopping with him.

Phage observed his new 'family members' as they politely asked someone to pass the salt or the pepper. Jack was positively glowing. Phage had known that his mate had come from a big family, and thus, wanted to have lots of children. Having farm hands that lived on the farm with you quickly solved the issue without resulting in having seven children. Jack now had the guys to mother, and to fuss over and to cook for as well as his children and husband. After all, now they had Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy.

Chapter 3 – **Mother Hen**

Phage really did feel bad for the guys. As soon as their chores were done, Jack had hauled them off to the city to go furniture/knick knack/potpourri/comforter and bed-sheets/paint shopping. Jack had found out that the dormitory was severely lacking decoration wise and so had decided that his 'kids' needed some help desperately. So at about 1:30Pm, they were off, Jack leading a group of fearful 17-year-olds behind him.

Jack's eyes got wide in happiness and then promptly waved the boys over, "Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, Timmy get yourselves over here! Look what I found; this is just the perfect shade of eggplant for the living room walls!"

The boys followed their mother over to yet another paint color sample rack. They all sighed, and nodded in agreement with Mother Hen. How they wanted to get back to the farm and kill themselves with the scythes in the tool shed. This was the worst punishment ever. The boss had sworn that he hadn't told the brunette about the dormitory, but the boys had seen a sadistically amused look in the man's eyes. They were about to sneak off to electronics when they heard something quite disturbing from the direction of Mother Hen.

"You disgusting freak, I can't believe they let people like you out in public! Faggot!" A deep voice was making even more of the cruel statements.

The boys hurried to their Mother Hen's side, and looked at the homophobe whom had previously been taunting Jack with even more insults. Jack was huddled against the rack of color swatches with a large red handprint mark on his cheek. Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy's eyes narrowed at the weasel like man. He was going to pay for doing something like that to Mother Hen. The stranger's eyes widened as the bobsy twins promptly beat the man with everything they could. Then, Jack bought the paint that he wanted and they left the store. They never saw that man again.

Later into the evening, Jack and the boys returned to the farm. Jack made sure all the decorating things were left in the dormitory before heading into the house. Phage wasn't in the living room so he must be in the kitchen, Jack concluded. When the brunette entered the kitchen Phage was in his face, asking questions about where the bruise on his face came from, who put it there, if someone had who was it, where did they live, and then he started muttering about needing a big black body bag. Jack grinned sheepishly at the floor before explaining to Phage the ordeal.

"Well, I'm glad that the bobsy twins took care of him, but from now on, you do not go shopping by yourself. What do you think would've happened if the guys weren't there with you?" Phage was in full throttle panic mode now.

"Shut up! You act as though I'm helpless and can't defend myself! I could have handled that guy, and besides that I was in the middle of home depot! Someone would've heard me screaming if something did happen, and there are home deposits running around the damn place all the time!" Jack let out a resigned sigh, "Now, I'm going to be working on the boys' dormitory tomorrow so I expect you to stay at home with the kids."

Phage nervously shuffled his feet on the floor before saying, "But honey, I've never taken care of the kids before…"

"Oh don't be silly, yes you have." Jack playfully smacked Phage on the shoulder.

"Not by myself with you like, gone…" Phage trailed off in a frightened whisper.

"I'm not going to be gone! I'll still be on the farm, if anything goes wrong you can always jog the short distance between the house and the dormitory!"

"But what if they eat me!" Phage ran his fingers through his spiky hair, "I mean, Amelia's the most ferocious little beast I've ever seen! She was pulling the wings off of flies the other day, and then eating them!"

"She was eating the wings of flies and you didn't stop her?" Jack asked, appalled.

"She wasn't eating the **wings** she was eating the bodies!" Phage shivered at the memory.

"She was eating the bodies of flies and you didn't stop her!" Jack screeched, "What's wrong with you?"

"I was scared; I thought she was going to eat my toes if I interrupted her." Phage groaned before saying in defeat, "I'll take care of the kids tomorrow, and I'll go draw you a bath."

"Thank you." Jack sniffed before tapping his foot on the floor in waiting.

Phage moaned in exasperation. He walked over to the bathroom door and went in to start his husband's bath.

Phage was currently attempting to change Amelia's diaper and hold his nose shut at the same time. This was much more difficult than it sounded, as Jack had bought those extra secure diapers that never come off. _Hmm, maybe if I could get the scythe I could use it to cut the diaper open…_ '_Phage! Don't you even think about it._' Phage groaned and decided if he just breathed out his mouth than maybe he could use both hands to pry the damn diaper off.

Fifteen minutes later, Phage had changed his daughter's diaper. Amelia looked up at him cutely with her thumb in her mouth. The red head picked up his daughter and walked outside, deciding that maybe if he took her for a horse-riding expedition she might become so exhausted that she would just go to sleep for a while. Phage sucked in some air and whistled as loud as he could. Free hopped over the fence and came galloping up to him. The 24-year-old hopped up onto the horse's back. Phage unbuttoned his sweater jacket and put his baby girl inside before snugly buttoning the shirt back up so that Amelia could still breathe but not get out. The baby giggled and snuggled against her father's chest. Phage grinned down at her and steered free off the farm, starting out at a canter before speeding up in small increments. The father and daughter pair had a blast, and after an hour and a half, the daughter as her father had predicted fell asleep to the lulling rhythm of horseback riding…

….meanwhile back at the farm (1), Jack was finishing up the last coat of paint on the bunk room walls. The brunette had woken up around five in the morning and booted his workers out of bed so they could get started on their chores early. Then the 23-year-old set to work on painting the living room the dark eggplant color he had decided on the day before. It had take two hours by his lonesome to get the first coat on, but by then the bobsy twins had finished their chores and had come back in to help him. Then the painting was done in the living room in an hour and a half. While the living room walls were drying they set about putting down the tarps in the bunk rooms so they could paint. The wall which the main door connecting the living room and bunk room was on was going to be painted a light warm crème color as well as the wall opposite it. The other two walls were to be painted a deep rich crimson color. Both bathrooms were going to be painted variations of a light hearted salmon pink. Steven and Joey were putting tarp down in one bathroom, and Timmy and Jimmy were doing the same in the other bathroom. Currently, Mark and Matt were helping take the tarp off the floor in the living room. Then they could decorate the common room with the furniture and knick knacks they had bought, as well as low maintenance plants and painting prints. With the boys' help, the job might be done by next evening.

"Mother Hen! Where do you want us to put the tarp from the living room once we've got it up?" Mark called.

"Um, fold it up and put it out on the front porch!" Jack answered; he had almost finished the painting he had started on the crimson wall opposite of the one nearest the bathrooms.

Jack had taken one of the artists paint brushes and painted with the crème color a picture of six figures standing near an orchard of fruit trees. Two of the figures were picking fruits and putting them in baskets, one was sitting on the ground with a dog on his lap licking him on the cheek, another was standing holding a toddler with cavity cute pigtails, one was standing with a four year old on his shoulders, and the last was sitting in the branches of one of the trees eating what could be either a peach or an orange. Just one last coat there…and, done. Jack stood back to admire his work. It was perfect. He had added a curved out line to it to separate it from the rest of the wall.

"Mother Hen, we've finished folding the tarp! Do you want us to bring in the book cases now?" Timmy asked.

"Um, yeah hold on just a second." Jack paused, "Everybody, make sure not to touch this painting in here, don't touch it at all for the next several hours even if it looks dry, alright!"

"Got it!" Replied the bobsy twins, all of whom had entered the bunk room to see what painting the mother hen was talking about.

Jack walked through the living room and out to the front porch where the book cases had already been constructed but not yet moved in. The brunette commanded the younger males to come out here and move one book case at a time into the living room. In one corner he had them make it so that the book case's corners were touching but in between them was just enough room to be a cozy lamp. It was a bendy posy lamp that had long metal stem and rainbow colored glass lamp shades covering the bulbs. They immediately plugged the lamp into the socket connected to the light switch. Next the books were organized on the shelves with small little cow or cat statues put in between them at times. Them they put in one large leather arm chair and on one side of the common room they put a good sized wooden table that had six chairs put round it and a little green table cloth in the center. A deck of cards was placed on a bowl in the middle of fruit that Jack brought in from the fridge in the main house. The mother hen smiled proudly, the living room was done.

It was dinner time when they finally stopped, and Jack led the tired hungry crew of tweens in to the house where Phage awaited them with a feast. Phage could cook actually, quite well in fact but he never got the chance mostly because Jack beat him to it. On the table was a large platter filled with scalloped red potatoes slathered with cheese, a large bowl of green house salad with mozzarella cheese sprinkled on top, and a plate piled high with roast beef fresh from the market in town. There were two pitchers, one filled with fruit juice, and another with the best milk on the farm. Six garbage disposals disguised as teenage boys sat down and immediately filled their plates, all other members of the family following suit. The room was filled with the sound of clinking cutlery, and hungry mouths chomping down on salad, potatoes, and roast beef. Jack carefully cut up Amelia's potatoes and fed them to her, all the while making her giggle. Phage joked with James by showing him how to eat his roast beef by using his hands and biting down real hard on the edge. Jack and the bobsy twins had made good progress on decorating the dormitory, and Phage had discovered that staying at home with the kids wasn't all that terrifying.

…When the boys slumped into the dormitory that evening, they barely made it into the living room before they collapsed onto the floor. Their stomachs were full and they had worked extremely hard that day.

"Wow, I never knew the boss could cook that well…" Mark said in awe, soon to be followed by a loud belch.

"Yeah, that was some good beef. I'm stuffed. The boss cooks almost as well as Mother Hen." Said Jimmy and Timmy in unison, they were twins after all.

"I never would have thought I'd say this you guys but, I wouldn't dream of leaving this place." Steven sighed and Joey grunted in agreement.

"You're right this is the best job ever. Free food, free place to stay and the work ain't that bad." Matt commented.

Jack and Phage described them as the bobsy twins. That description fits them more behavior wise than anything else. The only ones out of the six that really looked alike were Jimmy and Timmy and that was because they were identical twins. But even then you could tell one from the other if you noted the scraggly stubble on Jimmy's chin, and the mole under Timmy's left eye.

Mark was broad and muscular, he had dark red hair like a cherry that fell in uneven locks around his ears and eyes (which were a wild green), and two deep scars beneath his left eye, and his right ear had one silver hoop through it. His work outfit of choice was dark black cargo jeans big red hiking boots, and a white tank thermal undershirt (which he often shed during the work hours). He was a good natured boy with a rumbling laugh and a mischievous mindset. Mark often was found setting up harmless pranks on the other boys during the work day.

Steven was lighter and his body shape was sleeker, he had deep golden eyes and long black hair which he often held in a ponytail though there always one strand of onyx that fell in front of his eyes no matter how hard he tried. His jaw was firm and most commonly in a neutral line but would crack into a smile when his fellow workers would play a joke on him. Steven's muscles weren't had visible or large as Mark's but were evident when he went to work in the fields. He often worked in a loose white Tee and form fitting jeans. The raven haired teen was quiet and brilliant if one really sat down and took the time to talk to him, you would discover that he was a genius with words and the pen.

Jimmy and Timmy were both golden blonde with bright aqua blue eyes; both had quick reflexes and cunning wit. They both were tall and scrawny, wearing identical army cargos and navy blue tank tops to do chores. When looking at them you wouldn't be able to tell them apart, but if you talked with them a while you would be able to see that they were as different from each other as night and day. Timmy was quiet and shy, he didn't well like to be around large crowds of people for long amounts of time and was very drawn to photography. Jimmy was light hearted and never afraid to speak his mind, sometimes though his never ending ability to point out details that the people around him might not always see or want to see can get him into trouble.

Joey had vivid green curls and grey eyes, a narrow jaw, and lips that were always curled up into a smile. He was not destined to be a model that was clear by taking a look at his non existent figure. If anyone dared call him out of shape he would exclaim 'I am so in shape! Round is a shape!' and run off to the dormitory and hide for a half hour or so. On a better day, he would tell everyone more than once that he wasn't fat, he was pleasantly plump. Or if he was in a really good mood he would explain to anyone who would listen that he was currently 'growing' love handles which he planned to chop off of his body and donate to skeletal anorexic children in Africa. That way, the children could attach the fat from the love handles to their own bodies and keep living for another few weeks.

Matt was Mark's blue haired, brown eyed partner in crime. They both had a love of playing practical jokes, purple sparkles appeared around their faces when they showed off their bulging muscles (2) (which was quite often), and they both would rant to each other about foot bal whenever they got a break from working.

Within twenty minutes of the boys' getting to the living room of the dormitory they were sound asleep.

Chapter 4 – **The Hangover Gang **

Phage watched the boys tackle the challenge of the fall harvest in amusement. When the threat of working from five in the morning to seven at night roared at them, the Bobsy twins roared right back and dived into the work. Timmy and Jimmy were currently working as the ultimate fruit picking duo. Timmy would sit up in the tree's branches; picking all the fruit that was ripe while Jimmy held up a basket for him to put his crops in. Matt and Mark were turning the harvest into an opportunity to work out. Mark would shake the tree as hard as he could until it was raining apples. Then Matt would run in circles and catch every single one in his basket. Steven and Joey were working silently with each other and seemed to be the most efficient. Steven would fill one basket by himself and then take it immediately into the tool shed. While Steven was in the tool shed, Joey would come back from the tool shed and continue where the raven haired teen had left off.

Amelia's second birthday wasn't that far off now. The connection between Amelia and Phage was extremely strong; they were both born during the same hour of the same day. They were born in different years of course, but the fact that they both had the same birthday made them very similar in their interests and personalities.

Amelia decided at that point in time to crawl over to the plot where the boys were busy with the harvest. She crawled through the dirt over to where Steven was standing and tugged on the hem of his jeans. Steven looked down at her and smiled for the first time that day. He paused in his work and lifted the small girl into his arms. She giggled at the touch of his fingers on her belly.

"Stevie! Stop tickling!" She squealed.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked over at the raven haired teen, and at the cute little girl. That was the first non-swear word thing she had ever said.

"Stevie, you have pwetty hair!" Amelia gushed, pushing her fingers through the rough locks.

Again, amazement spread through everyone within ear shot of the toddler's speech. Steven replied with a thank you, and continued to gaze at her silently as if to encourage her to speak more.

"You knowses, I don't very much like pears. Pears are icky! You knowses what else, Stevie? My birthday is coming soon!" Amelia clapped her hands as if to emphasize her happiness.

"Really?" Stevie asked, "When is it?"

"It's the 31th of October!" Amelia exclaimed.

"That's Halloween isn't it?" Steve continued the conversation eagerly, he was just as amazed as everyone else that the girl was talking, but he wasn't so amazed that he was speechless.

"Yeah, and mommy always makes a big chocolate cake! It's really good, and there's lots of pudding and ice cream, and presents. Its lots of fun. Are you going to come to my birthday party Stevie?" Amelia looked up at the farm hand with hopeful eyes.

"If you want me to, I would love to come to your birthday part Amelia." Steven responded, "But right now I have to work. If you want you can help me."

The toddler nodded excitedly as 'Stevie' put her on the ground.

"Okay, be careful, I'm going to shake this tree, fruit is going to come down and your job is to put them in that basket." Steven pointed to the light whicker basket near his feet.

Again, she nodded. Then, when the Appages fell to the ground, she would do her best to pick them up and put them in the basket as she had been instructed. The other boys went back to work, and Phage was no where to be seen. The boss had run inside to tell his husband the news. Jack nodded casually.

"Yes I know, she and I had a fabulous discussion the other day aboutwhether zebras are black with white stripes or white with black stripes. It was very deep." Jack winked at his husband before continuing work on the buttermilk weave crust on the apple pie he was preparing.

In the fall, Jack seized the opportunity to go on a baking spree. He would make pumpkin, apple/appage pies, grape cobblers, and phurum jam as well as various other fall deserts. But that also meant that he was cooking constantly. Phage hated that. It meant he could never sneak off with Jack and have his way with him. Jack was not easily taken away from his cooking.

Later that day Joey was sitting exhaustedly leaning up against the wall of the chicken coop. So much for 'not that much work', he thought. They had said it so long ago, they had no idea what was in store for them. The boss had promptly told them that they weren't nearly done yet, thatthree more trees started producing fruit in mid October. Joey ran his hands through his forest green curls. He patted his belly thinking, _well at least with all this work maybe my gut will go away_. It had slightly, come to think of it. Joey realized he could fit into his jeans much better. He was starting to look a lot less like a tube sock full of rocks (his abdomen being the part full of rocks). Jimmy had once told him that if he were to cut off his legs andturn sideways he would look exactly like a healthy pear. Joey had promptly punched him in the face and stormed off. Jimmy and Timmy were propped up against each other asleep in the pasture, while Mark and Matt were working out with Hughe. Steven had disappeared to god only knows where like he usually did. The work for the day had been finished and now the boys all had an hour or so of free time before dinner. After dinner, Mother Hen always sent them straight to bed, saying they needed their sleep. Most commonly, Joey was quite obliged to go to sleep; he was madly in love with sleep.

After dinner, it was the same routine. Mother Hen sent them back to the dormitory to go to sleep. But when Joey finally trudged into the living room, the other boys were talking excitedly about something or other.

"What's more exciting then me sleeping?" Joey grunted before making his way towards the bunk room.

His efforts to gain sleep failed miserably as Mark hauled him into the huddle.

"We're thinking about sneaking out to go to the blue bar. We've got the money to order anything we want there! I mean, when was the last time you spent any of your pay?" Matt asked his friends.

"Uhh, you guys? If Mother Hen catches wind of this he'll freak!" Joey panicked instantly at the thought of an angry Mother Hen.

"He won't find out because we'll be really sneaky!" Jimmy tapped the side of his nose, winking atJoey mischievously.

"I don't know you guys, Mother Hen finds out about **everything**! He has magical eyes that float all around the valley! He sees **everything, **knows everybody. Someone in the valley will be sure to rat us out if Mother Hen comes calling."

"Fine then Joey, you stay home and enjoy sleep, after all Steven and Timmy are staying home too." Matt said.

"You'll be safe and sound with the other chicken shits Joey!" Mark clapped his beefy hand on Joey's shoulder.

"I'm not a chicken shit! I just want to keep all of my limbs, and personally I don't want to be castrated!" Joey exclaimed smartly.

Jimmy automatically winced at the reference. Mother Hen had once caught them sneaking cookies from the cookie jar in the kitchen, and then threatened to castrate all of them with a rusty razor.

Joey had inevitably been convinced to follow through with the dangerous escapade out to the blue bar. They had waited until it was good and dark out to leave the farm. That way it would be easier to get out without being seen. When they arrived at the Blue Bar, they thankfully didn't see that many people. It was just Galen and Murray. Griffin was behind the counter washing glasses.

"What'll it be boys?" He asked.

"The strongest thing you can make!" Said Mark.

Joey was now thoroughly worried. But he went along without question. When Griffin passed him a dark looking drink in a large mug, Joey downed the whole thing at once. His vision went slightly down hill, and he felt dizzy. He looked around and saw a rainbow of spots. The other guys seemed to be having the same reaction. Soon, all care about getting caught left him as they all ordered a second round. By the fifth round of drinks, they were all piss drunk and really loopy. Everything was funny.

"Why did sha chicken crossh sha roadssh?" Mark slurred.

When no one guessed Mark answered the question for them, "To git to sha utha side!"

All four of them roared with laughter. The hilarity didn't end even when a kind of familiar brunette blob entered the room. The blob appeared to be angry; the alcohol had taken over their minds so the blob looked kinda like a sprinkler spouting streams of water from two spots near the top of itself.

Twenty minutes later they were all still very drunk, but were now standing in a different place, or were they still at the bar? None of them could really tell the difference anymore, or at least Joey certainly couldn't. Suddenly, he felt a hand collide with his face that sent him stumbling backwards. He blinked his eyes and saw the same blob as before, but now he could see the blob much clearer now. It was Mother Hen, and he was very angry.

Joey didn't even try to defend himself, he knew he deserved it. He didn't cry even though the blows that Mother Hen was delivering to his head were making him feel like his skull was imploding. The other three were showing the same reaction; every time they collapsed they would stand right back up again and take more punches without complaint. Finally, after what felt like an eternity of having the shit kicked out of him, he felt himself being pulled into a warm sobbing embrace. Mother Hen had his arms wrapped around them as he sobbed in between Joey and Jimmy's shoulders. None of them moved they all stood there letting Mother Hen hold them.

The next day all four of them were experiencing hangovers like they had never been experienced before. Mother Hen had taken a break from cooking to make sure they were doing their chores, and any time they took a break he would come up behind them and scream at them to keep on working. There were no snacks, no rest breaks, and the guilty boysworked continuously from sun up till sun down. Even at dinner they were given the prisoner treatment. Steven and Timmy however were sitting at the table eating feasts of fall desserts. The hangover gang was sitting on the floor eating plain bread and drinking small glasses of water. Joey, Jimmy, Mark, and Matt all looked like purple and blue aliens from mars. They were bruised all over from the beating they had received from Mother Hen the previous night. The four of them would never sneak out at night ever again…

**Epilogue**

It had been almost seven months now since Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy had shown up to live and work on the farm. Everything was going well. The farm was still in business, and Phage had finally planted Smithie some 'lady friends' to pollinate with. The boys were fully enjoying a decorated dormitory, while James and Amelia were definitely happy about their new room. Bessie had taught the rest of the heard of cows how to hop over the fence, and now seeing a herd of cows wandering around the valley was not an unusual occurrence. Though Phage had to get collars for all of the cows now, he didn't really mind.

James had become known to wander off during the day and only come back for dinner at night. Where he wandered off to, no one really knew. Amelia was slowly but surely learning how to walk, and learning a whole slew of new swear words. When she would fall down during her attempts to walk a rainbow of colorful curses would gush out of her mouth.

Jack was doing fine, though every now and then he would groan about how he didn't get to go shopping enough, or that the boys were rough housing too much…Phage knew however that Jack was only mumbling, he wasn't really worried about either of those things.

It would seem that everything was going well. Phage and Amelia blew out the candles on their cake and smiled as James took a picture of his thumb on accident, instead of taking a picture of the birthday kids. Everyone was served a piece of the chocolate cake, as well as a scoop of pudding and ice cream. Phage gazed around the room, looking at his family. Jimmy and Timmy were violently arguing about whether vanilla or rocky road ice cream was better. Mark and Matt were competing to see who could finish a whole carton of ice cream, this of course resulted in them both crying out in pain from the sudden brain freeze they both received. Steven was engaging in a wonderful conversation with Amelia about the differentiating in taste depending on the kind of fly, and Joey was showing James how to use his spoon like a shovel. _Happy birthday to me…_

**TBC…**


	3. Chapter 3

**Un**happy Harvesting

Chapter 1

Phage was currently expressing his distaste over the fact that he was slowly gathering wrinkles around his eyes. Five years had gone by since Amelia had learned how to talk and walk. Now all her parents wished for was that she would sit down and shut up. The girl was very out spoken, literally she was a chatterbox propped open. The girl was seven years old and playing rough with the boys. Amelia had been known to run around the valley with Hugh, and head the expeditions to inspect different types of dirt. James however, was now ten and quite content to sit inside and read all day. He was pale as the milk he drank, and his shock of wild brown hair only made his skin look even paler.

"Dad!" Phage turned around, James was running towards him.

The boy tackled his father, bringing them both to the ground, "What is it James?"

"Mom wants you to go and help him set the table." James explained, "And, look at what I found out!"

James eagerly pushed an odd textbook into his father's face.

"What is it?"

"It's this really cool book I found when Steven took me into the library the other day. It's about this science thing called alchemy! The text is kinda old fashioned, and difficult to understand but I'm gonna learn how to read it and figure out how to use it maybe."

"Well good for you James." Phage grinned at his son before pushing him off his chest and saying, "But I personally have interest in learning about whatever you called it."

"Alchemy." James filled in for him.

"Right." Phage beamed, his son was turning out to be a real genius.

"Dad, you have wrinkles." James said, frowning.

"Yeah, well you have a zit, right here." Phage responded, pointing to the very tip of his nose.

James blushed and reached a tentative hand up to his nose to feel around for any sort of blemish, when he didn't find one he scowled. He looked around and saw his father just making into the house and shutting the door.

"Dad!"

Phage was now 30; it would bug him every now and then that he was becoming an old fart like he had called Patrick yesterday. There were now wrinkles around the corners of his mouth and his eyes. He couldn't find any grey hairs yet, so that was a good thing. The man sighed; coming into the kitchen he wrapped his arms around his husband's waist and buried his face in the brunette's soft hair. They stood like that together for several minutes, enjoying the simple presence of one another.

Phage turned Jack around in his arms and kissed him deeply, nibbling on the younger male's bottom lip. The two continued to kiss each other like the world was ending tomorrow. Then suddenly there was a loud cry from the entrance to the kitchen.

"EWWW!"

Both parents turned to see their son in the doorway. Phage grinned, and just to gross out James, he pulled Jack against him and kissed him long and hard.

"Stop it; you're just doing that to be gross Dad!" James exclaimed, pushing his way in between the two, he pulled an apple out from the fridge.

"James! We're going to have dinner soon; you shouldn't be eating a snack. Put that apple back in the fridge." Jack said sternly.

James smirked and then bravely took a large bite out of the apple, smacking his lips as he did so. Jack glared ferociously at his son before diving for him. James lithely leaped out of his parental unit's path. The boy then sped towards the kitchen door and out of the house. Phage grinned; James could be a real smart ass sometimes.

The ten year old shoved his book into the waterproof bag and quickly zipped up the top. He then strapped the book bag to his back and dived into the water. James smirked, holding his breath he swam full speed towards the bottom of the waterfall. Most would think him suicidal, but James knew something 'most' didn't. Underneath the waterfall there was an underwater tunnel that led to caverns behind the waterfall inside the cliff. It was there that James would run to hide when he got in a fight with his parents. He burst from the surface and landed on one knee on the cavern floor. Water dripped from his hair and face. There was a set of towels in the corner that he had brought from home for when he would climb out of the water soaking wet. The boy picked up a large towel and dried himself off.

The cavern was large in size and had two rooms, both of which James had equipped with things from home to make it more comfortable. No one knew of the caverns, besides Amelia. She was the only one that James had told…

_"James! I can't believe you! What were you thinking? Do you know how much we had to pay the library because of what you did?" Jack screeched._

_Phage was sitting at the dining room table looking sternly at his son. Amelia and James had taken a book out of the adult section earlier that day without checking it out. The security guards noticed and had charged the McDougall family with theft. Phage and Jack had taken responsibility for their children's actions and paid the hefty fine. But now, the parents were definitely angry._

_"Not only that, but you brought Amelia into this too! Amelia wouldn't have done something like this, but you wanted to drag her down with you didn't you?"_

_At this Amelia looked guiltily at the floor. Taking the book had been her idea, but as usual James took the blame, he didn't even deny the statement as Jack screamed on. James was always that way, sure he and Amelia had their squabbles but they were extremely close. When Jack was about to keep going, James scooped Amelia up in his arms and fled the dining room. James could hear his fathers' screams, but he kept going. He sprinted off of the farm and up to the forest spring. _

_"Amelia, I want you to hold on tight to me and not let go, alright?" James looked down at baby sister._

_"Okay." She murmured. _

_James dived into the water and swam quickly into the underwater tunnel that led to the caverns. When he pulled himself up onto the cavern floors, he made sure to dry Amelia off first. Then he took the same towel and dried himself off as best that he could._

_"Are you okay Amelia?" James asked._

"_I'm fine big brother…where are we?" _

_"This is a place I found a long time ago. It's where I come to hide when something like this happens with Mom and Dad. If you ever want to you can come here. Don't tell anyone about this place, okay?" James told her._

_Amelia nodded, and they spent the night there, curled up in the second room. The next day they showed up at home to find apologetic and relieved parents. Apparently they had been looking for them all night. Everybody in the valley had been looking for them. James and Amelia shared a look. Even with everybody that lived in the valley looking for them, no one had found them. Amelia later told him that she would never tell anyone about the caverns. They agreed that it was their secret place…_

…James snuggled against the warm pillow he had propped up against a wall in the second room. He knew that outside it was probably well after dark. James looked at his watch. It was 10:00Pm already. The young brunette put his book back into his bag and walked towards the main entrance. There was a loud splash and suddenly, Amelia appeared in front of him.

"Mom and Dad are REALLY worried about you. I came to get you. You missed dinner, and Mom is really sorry that he screamed at you. James you didn't have to run away that time. You should've just put the apple back when they told you to." Amelia scolded him, coming up to face him.

She was almost as tall as him and she was only seven. It upset James greatly that his baby sister was his same height.

"Yeah I know. But I've just been so annoyed today, Dad's been bugging me." James sheepishly scratched the back of his neck.

"Whatever, lets go." Amelia held her arms together above her head and dived into the water.

James sighed, before following his sister's example. When they both climbed up onto the river bank the two collapsed letting the warm night air dry them.

About a half hour later, James and Amelia walked into the living room. Beamed at her parents exclaiming that she had found the runaway. James scowled at her walking towards their room. He heard his parents telling him to wait, he simply didn't care. Amelia followed him, locking the door behind them.

"You should be nicer to Mom and Dad." Amelia told her big brother.

James ignored her, pulling off his shirt and his jeans. Amelia groaned, her brother could be really stubborn sometimes. She gingerly pulled her hands out of her hair and watched James pull on his pajama pants and shirt. He turned and saw her staring. James blushed, he picked up one of Amelia's teddy bears and threw it at her to get her attention.

"Hey!" She shouted.

"Quit staring!"

"I wasn't staring!"

"Yes you were!"

"Was not."

"Was too."

"Was not."

"Perv."

"Idiot."

Amelia turned away from her brother and started getting dressed for bed. She pulled off her t-shirt, revealing a floral undershirt. After that came her shorts, and then she took her night dress out of her dresser. All of this was done without comment. Once she was done getting dressed for bed, Amelia turned and saw that James had already gotten into bed. Even though they had fought, she saw he had left the corner of the comforter up for her like he did every night. Amelia smiled softly, climbing into bed she pulled the blankets up over her head.

Amelia stared at her brother's back for a few minutes, before nuzzling her face into the soft white fabric of his t-shirt. James could feel his sister snuggling into his back and he mentally sighed. He knew she hated to fight with him, but it was like a horrible habit that he couldn't break. His little sister knew him better than anyone, even their parents. Because of this, they were closer than most siblings. James turned over and enveloped his little sister in his arms.

"I'm…sorry." She whispered.

"I know…its okay."

The next day Amelia woke to find her brother poking her from across the room with a long tent pole. She turned over and saw that he was covered from head to toe in pillows and knee pads. The sight was too much for her, the girl let out a long laugh.

"What?" James growled, "You should see yourself in the morning! I'm simply taking the necessary precautions!"

Amelia frowned at him. She then walked over to her dresser and got dressed for the day. Together they headed for the kitchen. Everybody was already there, joking and laughing about this and that. Jimmy looked at them oddly, and was about to comment on something James did not want to here. The boy shot an icy glare at the farm hand, before continuing to guide his baby sister towards her place at the table.

The five farm hands, now each at the age of 22, couldn't remember what life had been like before they arrived to work for Phage that one day five years ago. Jimmy didn't stop directing his questioning glance to James. There was definitely something going on between those two that he didn't know about. Jimmy wouldn't stop until he found out what that thing was.

Five minutes later, Jack brought a lovely breakfast feast to the table and the family quickly dug in. James avoided Jimmy's gaze throughout the whole meal. He sent urgent looks, however, to Amelia. She nodded, understanding the request to meet at the caverns.

James sat in the caverns' main room waiting for his little sister. Jimmy was going to say something to him and James didn't want to think about, let alone hear. Just then Amelia broke through the water's surface and clambered up on the cavern floor.

"What is it big brother?" Amelia asked, drying herself off with a towel from the corner of the room.

"Did you see the way Jimmy was looking at us earlier?"

"Yeah, that was weird. What do you think he wants?"

"I'm not sure. But I think he doesn't like us getting along. As weird as that may sound." James said, moving his arms so that Amelia could curl up next to him.

"Yeah, that is weird." Amelia muttered, "Oh well, he'll just have to get over it won't he?"

James laughed, "Yeah, he will. Hey, you want to see something cool?" James asked her.

Amelia nodded. The seven year old girl watched uncertainly as her brother drew a large simply circle on the cavern floor with some chalk he had taken out of his bag. Then, he took a bottle of grayish stuff that looked kinda like sand from his bag and poured it into the middle of the circle. James looked at her and then clapped his hands palm down on the floor at the edge of the circle. A bright light filled the room, and only a couple minutes later, a beautiful doll was sitting where the grey sand had been a moment before. Amelia looked with wide eyes at her brother, who proffered the doll to her.

"Here, you take it. I don't think I'll be playing with it." James smiled at her.

Amelia took the doll and cuddled it against her chest, "What was that thing you did?"

"It was called alchemy. I learned it from that big book I've been carrying around."

"Oh. That was so cool big brother. You should make something for Mom with that alchemy stuff. I'm sure he'd like it." Amelia suggested.

"No!"

Amelia moved back from her brother a few spaces at his sudden exclamation.

"Why?"

"Because I don't want them to know that I can do this kinda stuff. Mom will probably tell me to stop. And I don't think Dad will really care." James looked angrily at the ground.

"Don't tell anyone Amelia." James looked up at her.

Amelia nodded, before crawling back towards her brother cautiously…

…James mentally kicked himself. He hadn't said it that harshly. Amelia was sensitive to peoples' tones almost to the point she could be considered an aphasiac (1). The boy held his sister in his arms, softly apologizing for raising his voice with her. They sat together like that for a long time.

Later, after James had shown Amelia several other alchemic arrays that he had learned he decided they should probably head home. James hid Amelia's doll and the other things he had made in the hidden niche in the second room.

"Come on, it's getting late." James gestured that she could go first.

Amelia dived into the water, James quickly following her.

Chapter 2

Jimmy was watching the boss's son like a hawk. James and Amelia were acting stranger and stranger since Steven took James to the library a couple of days ago. The farm hand definitely wanted to find out where those two disappeared to every day. He was tired of not knowing what was going on, he had to know…call it paranoia or habit whatever you like. So that day after breakfast, Jimmy followed the two kids on their way to flee the farm. Every once in a while, James would look back and Jimmy would have to leap into a bush or hide behind a tree. But finally he watched them dive into the water together in front of the waterfall. He repeated their actions and wondered where they had gone. Spotting a small gap near the bottom of the waterfall, Jimmy headed for it…

…James and Amelia were drying themselves off in the caverns, they had started meeting there every day to practice alchemy. James was getting better and better at it, so he had started to teach it to Amelia. The girl caught on quick and was learning just as fast as James was. They were learning the principles and the different arrays, but James knew there was only so much they could learn from that book. Suddenly as they were about to take the book out of James's bag, Jimmy shot out of the water and landed on the cavern floor.

"So this is where you guys come to hang out…I can see why." Jimmy muttered, he looked forward just in time to see James angrily push him into the water.

Jimmy broke the surface and was about to climb back up to the cavern floor when James stepped on his fingers.

"Why couldn't you just leave us alone!" James shouted angrily, "This was supposed to be our secret place. No one was supposed to know, and you couldn't just give it up you had to follow us. You aren't going to tell anyone about this place, you understand?"

Jimmy looked up guiltily at James; Amelia was standing back against the wall sadly staring at the floor. James was right, Jimmy shouldn't have followed them. The farm hand hated the need to know things that constantly plagued him.

Two teens walked down the path into the valley, looking around appreciatively at the similarity to their old home. One was slightly shorter than the other and had long braided blonde hair and golden eyes. The other had soft short brown hair and grey eyes. The blonde's right arm and left leg were made of metal and he seemed to be carrying a large brown brief case.

"Well Al, what do you think of this place?" The blonde asked his companion.

"I like it; it reminds me of Rizenpool though." Al responded, "But do you like it brother?"

"I think it's a good a place as any, and I don't think that the crap colonel will be able to find us here." Edward Elric replied to his little brother.

Together they made their way further into the valley. Looking around they saw a large building that probably was the local inn, a beach not to far away and a couple of other residential buildings. A large laboratory was stationed up on a hill, with large spirals every once in a while showering sparks onto the building beneath it. Farther away there was a large metal structure and a metal trailer. Two farms were here, that they could tell and one of them appeared to have animals.

"Let's stop at the local inn for now and see if there are any houses for sale." Ed suggested, walking into the Inner Inn…

…Ruby Inner had never had stranger looking guests stay at her inn before. One was wearing a long red cloak while the other wore a matching one of green; both wore white gloves with strange circles on them and leather pants and shirts.

"Hello, do you have an empty room available? We'd like to stay here for a while." The one in the long red cloak asked.

"Um, yes, it's 55 G per night, sirs." Ruby told them.

The two looked confusedly at each other before asking, "G? Is that the form of currency you use in this village?"

"Yes, and in the next several villages over, and in the cities near by, why? Do you not have any?" The inn keeper explained.

"Um, no we don't. This is the only kind of money we have." The stranger revealed to her many faded bills with large numbers on them.

Those were the modern currency now being used by the larger cities and by most of the country.

"Oh, you have the modern currency. That's alright; we still use the old system. I'll let you two stay here for free tonight, so that tomorrow you can go into the city and get your money exchanged. Then you can pay me." Ruby told them, she had a strange need to mother the two boys.

Her maternal instinct was telling her that they didn't have anyone to look out for them. _How sad,_ Ruby thought.

"I'll show you to your room." Ruby walked past them and up the stairs, seeing that they were following her she continued.

"Here you are, this room's has two beds so this is the one you'll probably want. That room across from yours is our son's room. We usually have breakfast around seven and dinner at six in the evening. We don't eat lunch, but I'm sure if you got to know the McDougalls across from the inn they would welcome you to lunch." Ruby nodded to them, "Here's your key."

"Wait, who are the McDougalls?" The blonde boy asked her.

"They're the family who owns and runs Myishi farm. If you walk out onto your balcony and look straight, behind that hill you'll see Myishi farm."

"Thanks."

…Ed smiled at the woman before walking into his and Al's room. She was very kind, most inn keepers even in other villages they had been to would let them stay for free. He walked out onto the balcony and looked straight as the raven haired woman had instructed and saw a pair of children walk off of the farm. Al was the one who saw it first, the book that the boy was holding: an introduction to alchemy.

"Al, did you see that? There are actually some people who know alchemy here." Ed looked over at his brother and smiled.

"Brother, look, there's a man following them." Al pointed to a tall man probably the age of twenty two.

"Yeah, I wonder why. Oh well, let's go and meet the 'McDougalls' shall we?" Ed smirked at his brother before heading into their room.

Al grinned, his brother had been much happier since Al had gotten his body back. The two had gone through a lot of hardships, one of them had been Al's soul being sealed into a suit of armor after an alchemy array gone wrong. They had spent many years trying to find a way to return Al back to normal, and just recently they had finally found it. Now they just wanted to live life normally, relax.

Ed and Al walked onto Myishi farm to find it buzzing with activity. There was two beefy men washing cows in a pasture, and another three slightly thinner men picking fruits.

"Hello! This is Myishi farm, correct?" Ed called.

One of the cow washing boys looked up, "Yeah, who are you?"

"I'm Edward Elric, and this is my younger brother Alphonse Elric. We're staying at the Inner Inn and thinking about living here for good. The inn keep told us this would be a good place to meet people." Ed grinned as the strangers hopped over the pasture fence to come and greet them.

"We're two of the farmhands that work here. I'm Mark, and this is Matt." The man shaking Ed's hand reminded him very much of Alex Louis Armstrong, only with cherry red hair.

"Don't let Mother Hen see you, or he'll start fussing and trying to get you to stay for dinner." Matt winked at him; he looked just like Mark only with blue hair.

"Who's Mother Hen?" Al asked.

"He's the boss's husband. When we and the other guys first came here to work we had no idea we'd be living here. See that house over there? That's the dormitory that the boss had us build. That's where we and the other boys live. Mother Hen was fussing over us the entire time we were building it." Matt explained.

"Hey guys! Get over here; some new guys are moving into the valley!" Mark called.

The fruit picking crew jogged over. One was tall and lean with long black hair and golden eyes, he reminded Ed of Mae. Hughes. Another was slightly shorter with golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes, and the other was over weight and had dark green curls.

"Hi, this is Timmy, and Joey. My name's Steven, do you guys have names or are we going to force to say 'hey you'?" The man who looked like Hughes asked.

"I'm Edward Elric, and this is my little brother Alphonse." Ed shook hands with the three of them.

"We'd like to introduce you to Jimmy, but he ran off earlier. He's Timmy's identical twin. The boss is going to get really ticked at Jimmy for shirking off his chores. This is one of our busiest seasons." Joey informed them.

"Come on, I'm sure the boss and Mother Hen would love to meet you. Word of caution however, once Mother Hen sees you, that's it, you're a part of the family whether you like it or not." Mark warned the Elric brothers seriously.

Alphonse laughed, "I don't think we'd really mind, we're looking for a place to live around here, we'd like to stay in the valley if possible."

"Cool, maybe the boss will let you stay in the dormitory with us." Timmy spoke for the first time since the brothers had stepped foot on the farm.

Together the group of boys walked into the main house. There was a brunette man about the same height as Ed dusting and sweeping at the same time. He turned and smiled at them.

"How goes the work boys? Are you sure you don't want to take a break and have a snack?"

"Actually, I think that might be a good idea Mother Hen." Joey smirked, "We have potential mover-inners!"

The group stepped aside so as bring Edward and Alphonse into view. Ed barely had time to react as the cleaning brunette blob pulled him and Al into a tight hug.

"Welcome to Forget-Me-Not Valley! I'm Jack. My husband must have run off somewhere, but I'm sure he'll be back for dinner. Would you like some lunch?" Jack asked.

Ed and Al didn't have time to nod before Jack pulled them towards the kitchen. The farm hands followed, laughing at the look on the Elric brother's faces. Ed was plopped down in a wooden chair at a huge plank wood table. On it was a long traditional table cloth, and an iron plate filled with a variety of fruits sat in the middle.

Jack had already started cooking something or other, and was talking to them from the stove.

"So, when did you get here?" Jack asked them.

"Well, not too long ago actually. We just checked into the Inner Inn, when Ruby mentioned if we wanted lunch we should probably come over here and make friends otherwise we wouldn't be getting any. They don't serve lunch over at the Inn." Alphonse answered.

At this Jack laughed, as did the other boys at the table.

"What's so funny?" Ed asked.

"Nothing," Jack replied, "It's just that this happens to us a lot when travelers come through the valley. Not that many people usually come to Forget-Me-Not Valley, and fewer come to stay, but every time someone new comes through Ruby sends them over here to eat lunch!"

Al smiled at this.

"So, does your farm make a lot of money?" Ed changed the subject.

"Yes, quite a lot. We make money mostly off of the sale of high quality fruit seeds. But we also sell milk, butter, and cheese in the city closest to us. Our farm produces some rare hybrid fruits so sometimes wealthy stores from the city come to our farm to buy our hybrid seeds and fruits." Jack said, bringing a large pot of fish stew to the table.

"Hybrid fruits?" Al questioned, thanking Jack when he served him some stew.

"Yes, we have found a way to combine the seeds of certain fruits and make hybrid fruit trees. Sometimes we even take the seeds of two hybrids and mix them together; the fruit of those trees fetch a high price on market days." Jack continued, walking back to the kitchen to keep cooking.

"Hmm, from which fruits do you make hybrids?" Ed took a sip of his stew and thought he had died and gone to heaven.

"Usually we combine apples and bananas, or grapes and oranges." Mark said, also beginning to dig into his stew.

"We also put peaches and oranges together, or apples and peaches." Joey added.

"Here's an example of one of the hybrids we make, boys. This is a Lanmuge; it's a peach and orange combined." Jack offered a plate of sliced fruit.

Ed took a slice and put it in his mouth. It was sweet, and slightly sour. Al took one as well and eagerly grabbed a second. In less then a minute the two had polished the plate and were back to stew heaven. They were about to fill their bowls with more stew when Jack brought another heavenly looking dish to the table. It was a very good looking salad that smelled wonderful. _That's it_, Ed thought, _I'm never leaving this place…_

…Meanwhile, Jimmy was walking back to the farm, ashamed of himself. He had promised James and Amelia that he would never tell anyone about the caverns. But if he had known where they were all those times they had run away, then he could have saved Mother Hen a lot of grief. Still, Jimmy knew that he would tell the children's parents about their hiding place. Kids needed a place like that to run away to when they had a tiff with their parental units. If Jimmy had a place like that when he was younger, he probably would've had a much happier time growing up. The tired farm hand stumbled into the kitchen and quirked an eyebrow at the two strangers seated at the table.

"Who are those guys?" Jimmy asked, pointing to the two currently feasting on Jack's famous fried vegetable salad.

"Hey, guys this is Jimmy. Jimmy this is Edward and Alphonse Elric. They're going to be living in the valley from now on." Mark introduced the three, and then continued eating.

…James wasn't really sure whether or not Jimmy was going to tell anyone about the caverns. But the man had looked rather ashamed and guilty about what he had done, and then promised that he wouldn't tell anyone. Amelia had already dived into the water; they were going to go home for lunch. No doubt Mom had made another luxurious lunch. The man certainly had a talent for cooking.

James and Amelia walked into the house and were greeted by the loud noise coming from the kitchen.

"Sounds like everyone's home for lunch today." Amelia laughed, hurrying to wards the kitchen, James hot on her trail.

When they entered the kitchen they saw some strangers sitting at their kitchen table. James and Amelia felt something strange, as though there was someone else who could do alchemy in the room. The kids knew that no one had heard them come in, but suddenly the two strangers turned around and looked at them.

"Oh, Edward, Alphonse these are my children: Amelia and James." Mom walked forward and greeted his children.

"Hi mom, hello Ed, hello Al!" Amelia said, walking over to the table and sitting next to Al as if she hadn't felt anything at all.

James quickly caught on and said hello to the guests, coming to sit next to Ed. They ate lunch and talked with Ed and Al casually, but Amelia and James were definitely going to talk to them alone later. There was something strange about the two, and Amelia and James were going to find out exactly what.

Chapter 3

After lunch, James and Amelia looked up at the two alchemists sitting next to them and tugged on their long sleeves. Both Ed and Al returned their gaze quietly.

"We want to talk with you." Amelia said seriously.

James added, "Alone."

The two men shared a questioning look before following the children out of the kitchen, out of the house, off the farm and soon after a thoroughly soaking swim into a cavern.

"Where are we?" Ed asked the two children.

"This is the cavern that I found a long time ago. Usually its where me and Amelia come to hide if we get in a fight with our parents. But recently we've been coming here every day to practice alchemy." James explained, briefly heading into the second room.

Amelia looked up at their guests, "We wanted to talk with you because you can do alchemy too. We felt it when we walked into the kitchen."

…Edward and Alphonse were surprised to say the least. These children could feel just by entering a room that they were alchemists? Soon James reentered the room, only this time it was with a bag full of assorted items. He began slowly pulling them each one by one out of the bag. First there was a doll, then a metal pig, soon to be followed by figurines, and finally a large book.

"Did you transmute all of these things?" Al asked.

"With the exception of the book, yes." Amelia responded.

"Where did you find that book?"

Amelia looked over at James now too; she herself didn't know where he had found it.

"I found it in the adult section of the library the other day when Steven took me into town. He let me check it out, but he didn't really tell me why." James deftly opened the book and flicked through its pages, "I've already read the whole thing, I'm aware of every array in it, its purpose, what it makes, and how to use it."

James then closed the book in one hand, "But I want to know more about alchemy. I've heard rumors of great alchemist, who once worked for the state. Known as the Full Metal Alchemist. I recognized you before you had even turned around, Edward."

"Did you?" Edward smirked, "I suppose you would like to learn alchemy from me correct?"

James looked straight into the Full Metal's eyes without intimidation or hesitation and replied, "Correct."

"Brother…" Amelia looked up at him, he said before that alchemy wasn't that big a deal to him, that once he learned what was in the book he'd done with it.

"What do you want to do once you learn more about alchemy?" Al turned to James as well.

James sighed; he had to think of something quick that they would approve of. His real goal was to transmute his real mother and then live with her. He had known since he started reading books a couple of years ago that it was impossible for two males to produce children. They had to have had a surrogate mother or something, James knew it. He was tired of living here on the farm; he wanted to live in the city with his REAL mother.

"I'm tired of feeling useless on the farm, if I can learn more about this alchemy I can learn how to fix tools and maybe I can learn medicinal alchemy and heal the animals when they get sick. I want my father to notice me…" James left that off as a side note to make it more dramatic and convincing.

The two alchemists seemed to have bought it. James mentally sighed in relief…

…Ed looked over to Al and nodded. Al returned the look; he didn't buy that story either. This kid definitely wanted to learn how to do something he knew they wouldn't approve of; otherwise he wouldn't have paused to think before telling them his reason. Either way, they'd agree to teach him so that maybe they would eventually find out what this kid had up his sleeve.

Later that day, Ed and Al headed into the kitchen to sit down with James's parents. The two alchemists had promised the kid that they would talk to his parents for him. They were considering about taking the boy away for a couple of years to train him like their teacher had trained them. It had been effective.

"Jack, Phage…" Ed began, "Your son has come to us asking about alchemy. It is a highly complex and sophisticated science. My brother and I are very talented and powerful alchemists, we used to work for the country. We think that your son has a great talent, and we would like to teach him more about alchemy. He wishes to learn more so that he could possibly help you more on the farm."

Ed gave a pointed look to Phage, "He clearly told us that he wanted his _father_ to notice him more."

Phage's face softened, the wrinkles around his eyes frowning. Edward hated to bring that into the conversation, but he had to find a way to make this convincing, and to be able to get them to let go of their son.

"Anyway, we know that you might be uncertain, and disagree at first with us. But we would like to take James away for a while so that we may train him thoroughly enough. The types of alchemy he has asked to learn about are very difficult and take a couple of years to learn. He would like to learn medicinal alchemy so that he can heal the animals if they get sick, and take care of you and the farm hands if something happens." Al explained this in a gentle voice, pausing to give it time to sink in.

"For a couple of years?" Jack asked, tears quelling up in his tone, "Why couldn't he just stay here and learn alchemy? Does it really take that long?"

"Yes, the only reason my brother and I are as powerful as we are is because we started learning alchemy at the ages of five and six. Your son is ten. He may be very gifted in the science, but he still needs several years of education." Ed continued, "You can say no that is your right as his parents. We're just telling you what would be the safest way for him to learn. I can already see the rebellious nature in him Jack. If we didn't teach him or train him in any way, he would find a way by himself and probably end up hurt in a way that you could do anything about."

Phage said quietly, "We'll talk about it with James, and then by ourselves tonight. We'll tell you our decision by tomorrow morning."

Ed and Al nodded. Together they left the kitchen and walked carefully into the children's room.

"We've talked to your parents but they're still skeptical, James. They want to talk it over with you, and then they would like to talk amongst themselves. They said that they would tell us their decision in the morning." Al informed the two children.

James nodded; Amelia simply climbed into bed and turned away from them, not saying a word. Al saw this and walked over to the bed. He put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Even if we do end up training James, you'll see him again some day Amelia." Al said comfortingly, rubbing soothing circles on the girl's back.

"I know…" Amelia replied, turning over she looked up at Al.

"Alright, we're going to head back to our room at the inn now, okay?"

They were almost to the door when Amelia shot out of bed and wrapped her arms around Al's leg. He looked down at her, and then picked her up and held her gently in his arms. Al gave her one last squeeze before setting her back down and telling her good bye once again.

…Edward and Alphonse Elric sit thoughtfully on their beds at the inn. They were both worried about the boy. Al was more worried about Amelia; he could connect with her well. He understood as a younger sibling that she was worried about her older brother. It was obvious that they were close, and Amelia didn't want James to leave. But it couldn't be helped.

"I'm not so sure about teaching James," Ed said to his brother, "I see too much of myself in him."

Al understood what his brother was getting at, "Do you think he seeks human transmutation?"

"I'm pretty sure."

"Why?" Al climbed onto his brother's bed and moved closer to him.

"Because I think he's not sure of his parents…maybe he thinks that there's some real parent out there that he can bring back." Ed suggested.

"I hope not." Al said quietly.

"Well, once we start training him we might be able to find out for sure."

"You're right."

…James turned over in bed and watched his sister sleeping. He knew she was worried, and that she didn't want him to leave. Maybe if he told her what he was thinking about doing, she'd understand…_no, she won't understand, she just goes along with everything _Mom_ and _Dad_ say, _his mind angrily replied. James turned back towards the wall; he needed to stop worrying about Amelia. If he was going to be separated from her for several years he needed to learn not to worry so much about his baby sister.

The next day, James was standing in the living room talking with his parents about why exactly he wanted to learn more about alchemy. Again he repeated the story he had told the Elric brothers, only this time with a little more detail. Then, when Mom and Dad told him to go outside and play for a little while he knew they were talking about it. He walked over to the Inner Inn and knocked on the alchemists' room door. Ed answered, looking around for whomever it was who had knocked on his door. James poked him in the knee, and Ed looked down to see James standing there.

"I'm sorry, I didn't see you." James wondered why Ed seemed to receive so much pleasure from uttering those words.

"Whatever. My parents are talking about it now. I know they are because they sent me and Amelia out of the house." James walked past the older boy and came to sit in the middle of the room.

"Make yourself at home." Ed muttered shutting the door.

"Can you show me some of the alchemy arrays you know?" James asked.

Al walked into the room, from the balcony and answered, "Sure. I'll handle it brother. I doubt you remember any of the arrays yourself."

James looked up at this and asked, "Why wouldn't you remember? If you're such a great alchemist wouldn't you know all of the arrays?"

"He doesn't use them. He can do a transmutation with a circle so he doesn't draw them very often." Al explained to the younger boy.

"Oh."

Al took out some chalk and drew a slightly difficult circle on the floor. James put his hands on the edge of the circle before Al had a chance to. There was a flash of light and suddenly the floor inside the circle was clean and with out scratches or blemish. Al looked up at the boy in amazement. He hadn't even told him what the transmutation circle did.

Al looked over to his older brother; Ed was having the same reaction, only less exaggerated. This boy definitely had the talent to become an excellent alchemist. But the two teens were worried how the boy would use his talents. A few moments later, and the door to their room opened. Ruby walked in and promptly told them that the McDougalls would like to see them.

Jack and Phage had decided after much thought that they would let James leave the valley to train. Ed and Al were glad that they had agreed. The only problem, one that Edward had realized the night before was that they would have to return to central to request leave so that they could train the boy. The colonel wouldn't be happy with that request. But who really cared what the colonel thought? Ed certainly didn't.

Amelia watched as her brother started to walk away. She had promised herself that she wouldn't cry, or make a big scene. But she couldn't stop herself as she ran to catch up with her brother and wrap her arms around him from behind. She sobbed into his shoulder.

"Promise me you'll come back." She whispered in his ear.

"Amelia…" He whispered her warningly.

"Promise, you have to." Her voice broke, and she buried her head against his shoulder blade.

"I promise." He told her.

Then, he gently took her arms off of him and kept walking. That simple action made Amelia want to cry even more. Her brother had changed. Ever since he started learning alchemy, he had been harsher with her. James wasn't the same as he used to be. Why did he have to learn more about alchemy? Why couldn't he just stay on the farm and be her nice older brother again? Amelia turned, and ran past her parents into the house. She hurried into her room and shut the door.

When she got to her room, she was about to run to her bed, crawl under the covers and cry when she saw something that made her smile through the tears somewhat. There on the bed, the corner of the comforter had been left folded back.

Chapter 4

Amelia had been acting strange the past couple of days. She would walk around and stare at the sky every now and then. Phage groaned at the memory of Nami that Amelia's actions would awaken in him. Nami used to the same thing, with the same cool empty look in her eyes. He now seriously regretted letting James go off with those two alchemists whatever they are things. His baby girl was sad and hurting, and Phage was now inevitably angry at himself.

Jack was sitting at the dining room table, putting together a scrap book of family pictures. Every time he would find himself looking at the same one: the one where they were standing in the baby orchard over on the dark soil near the dormitories. James was looking suspiciously at a young Phurum tree, while Amelia was hugging her father's legs. Phage had his arm wrapped lovingly around Jack's waist, both parents were smiling. It was one of the few memories that Jack had of James that was happy. The youngster had always been quiet, and slightly grim. Jack had never known why. He had always loved his son with his whole heart; he had raised him, and always tried to be kind of him. But James had always had a cold shield up around him. Jack could hardly remember a time when he wasn't that way…

…James flew back against a tree, his whole body was sore. He had been training with Ed all morning. He had said that in order to train you mind you had to train your body. So he had begun teaching James martial arts. James was currently getting his ass kicked. He had snuck out last night to read up on human transmutation, and thusly got no sleep. Now he was really tired and wasn't focusing. Every blow was a surprise. All of it was worth it though. His mentors had access to an unlimited amount of books on alchemy. He could research human transmutation as much as he wanted…as long as his mentors didn't find out that is. _I'm gonna meet you some day mom…than we can live together in the city. Maybe I'll even teach you alchemy…_

… "Got any fives?"

"Nope. Go fish."

"Damn…"

Steven calmly picked up another card from the large pile. _Ha, now I have a pair_ he thought. The raven haired man laid down two pairs, now all he needed was a queen and he could…the guys sitting opposite him had already laid down all their pairs. They had already won! And they didn't **say** anything? Steven chucked his card at Joey, hitting him in the nose. Blood dripped down the nose of Steven's victim. Mwahaha! Behold, he had inflicted a paper cut! Steven gracefully stood, leaving the living room of the dormitory to walk outside. If they were just going to sit around and find ways to trick him all day, then there was definitely something else he could be doing…

…Mark and Matt walked out of the blue bar, reenergized and ready to get back to working out. Hugh was waiting for them over by the well. Thanks to that tall glass of milk, they could continue with their squat thrusts. It had been several days since James had left, and the whole atmosphere of the farm had changed little. Mother Hen was still worried about his son, and Phage had continued to be the happy-go-lucky man that he was. Amelia however, was different. Even the cows knew something was going on. Bessie would often times follow Amelia around the valley as if to watch over her. Lumina had become worried by the little girl's behavior. Auntie Lumina had asked Phage what had happened, and the man had turned away from her. This only worried her more. Usually Phage told her stuff, and now he wasn't. What was going on?

…Lumina sat in her room at the villa, trying to distract herself by painting. But for some reason, its usually soothing affects were not coming to her. The poor girl was just too worried about Amelia, and why Phage was suddenly shutting her out. This wasn't good. She walked out of her room, and down the grand stair case. Her feet led her automatically to the piano bench. Lumina's hand went to the piano keys, pulling a mournful melody out of the instrument. It was not a melody that she knew, or had ever played through sheet music. It was a melody that her hands knew, and that her heart knew, but her mind did not. This melody was informing anyone with in five yards of the villa, that something was not wrong with the pianist inside. Her lush honey brown hair fell to her shoulders in delicate locks, and her thin plaid dress hung around her knees when she sat down. The girl's hands were small and graceful, her eyes beautiful but troubled. Everything about her screamed to anyone bearing witness, that something was not right. Lumina finally stopped playing, she looking outside and saw that the sky was dark. _What happened Phage?_ She thought desperately…_why won't you talk to me?_

…Amelia sat on the beach, letting the waves wash all the way up to her neck. At that point she really didn't seem to care. She didn't know what was going on with James. He hadn't written her a letter yet. _Surely_, she thought, _he would have written me a letter by now, right?_ Amelia sighed. Her heart ached, and tears flowed down her cheeks to mingle with the sea water around her neck. She was so sad, she missed her brother terribly. But more so, she missed the brother James _used_ to be. Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy were great brothers. She loved them a lot. But they couldn't fill James's place. Amelia knew the tide was coming in, but she didn't notice. The water was up to her chin now. She didn't care when she felt the water reach her lips. _If I was meant to stay in the world_, Amelia thought solemnly, _wouldn't someone have saved me by now? Wouldn't someone have noticed the little girl sitting in the water? Wouldn't someone have cared back at the farm if Amelia wasn't home yet?_ It was getting dark, and the moon was rising into the sky, bringing the tide with it. Her mouth was under water now. _James would have noticed, he would have been here to pull me out of the water._ Waves were lapping at the tip of her nose. Amelia mentally laughed; if she hummed she would be able to make nose bubbles. There was a chill filling her body. During this time of year, the water got very cold at night. She felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her out of the water. When Amelia looked up, it wasn't her father, or mother holding her…it was Gustafa the guitar player who lived near the beach. Again, emptiness filled her. Amelia's family hadn't saved her; it had been one of the other people living in the valley. She might as well not been saved. _Probably wouldn't have made any difference to Mom and Dad…_Amelia thought bitterly…

…Phage sat down at the table for dinner; he looked around and saw all of his family there. But wait, where was Amelia? He knew James was training, but Amelia should be there for dinner.

"Where's Amelia?" Phage asked suddenly.

"I don't know, I haven't seen her all day." Steven replied.

"Yeah, I don't think any of us have really seen her." Joey admitted.

Suddenly there was a loud knock on the front door. Mark went to answer it. They all sat nervously at the table. There were some concerned voices in the next room, and suddenly Mark burst into the room, Gustafa following him with Amelia in his arms. The girl was pale, her lips were blue and she was soaking wet.

"What happened?" Jack asked worriedly.

"I was going to head over to the blue bar a little while ago, when I saw something sitting on the beach in the waves. The tide was coming in. I wasn't really sure what it was but I went down to check and I saw the top of Amelia's head poking out of the water. She was just sitting there, letting the tide go over her!" Gustafa exclaimed.

Everyone's gaze turned to a seemingly lifeless Amelia. Her skin was extremely pale, and her hair was sticking to her face. Rose bud lips were an unnatural shade of blue, and eyes were staring into nothingness. Phage shot out of his chair and took Amelia into his arms. He kissed her on the forehead and murmured her name. She didn't respond, even though her eyes were open, they weren't looking at anything at all.

"Amelia, please talk to me! Why were you sitting on the beach like that? Why didn't you come home?" Phage pleaded.

Amelia had a dark look on her face as she responded, "If no one noticed that I was gone, why would they care if I didn't come home? No one bothered to save me, except Gustafa. He isn't my family."

"Amelia, we do care about you. We didn't know where you were." Phage said.

"Yeah, great job looking for me you guys…" Amelia muttered.

She was shivering in her father's arms, and by habit she snuggled closer to sap the body heat out of the person holding her. Phage grimaced; he had no idea that Amelia had gone anywhere until he didn't see her at the kitchen table. She was right; no one had noticed she was gone. He felt horrible now. Probably not as horrible as Amelia felt, but still horrible nonetheless. Amelia fainted in his arms, from the cold.

…Later Jack was washing Amelia up in the bathroom, in warm soothing water. Amelia didn't talk the entire time. Afterwards, Jack dried her off in a fluffy towel; he calmly dressed her for bed.

"You know that your father and I love you, don't you?" Jack asked his daughter.

"…" Amelia didn't answer; she silently stared at the tile floor of the bathroom.

"We do love you, we were about to start looking for you when Gustafa knocked on the door." Jack explained.

"Why weren't you looking for me earlier, huh?" Amelia snapped.

"Because usually you come home before dinner's started, or just in time for dinner. It didn't occur to us to start looking for you until we didn't see you at the dinner table after we had sat down to eat." Jack held his daughter firmly in his arms.

"Mama…" Amelia sniffled.

Jack had to hold back a gasp. Amelia hadn't called him Mama since she was much smaller. She had kept up the tough girl act, and had always called her Mom. This was the first time in a long while.

"I'm sorry I was mean to you, and to Papa…I miss James!" Amelia cried.

She finally let it all out. Everything about James leaving, and how he started acting so much different…and that when no one had come to look for her that she thought no one really cared about her. She cried until her tears became sobs, Jack all the while holding her.

"Amelia…you can always come to me or your father when you need us. We will always love you. You know you'll always be my baby." Jack smiled, before giving Amelia a raspberry on the cheek.

Amelia giggled, "Would you come tuck me in for bed, Mom?"

"Sure, honey." Jack responded.

Together, Jack and Amelia walked to her room, where Phage sat on the bed waiting. Phage looked guiltily down at the floor. Amelia felt bad for saying those things to her Papa earlier. He and she had always been really close. And then she snapped at him just because she was upset about James. That was no reason for her to snap at him. Her Papa hadn't done anything wrong. Amelia walked over to Phage and pulled herself up onto his lap. She snuggled her face into his chest and sighed. Grabbing small fistfuls of fabric, the small girl sniffled again.

"I'm sorry Papa, for being so mean to you. I didn't mean any of it. You're a great Papa." Amelia looked up at Phage smiling.

Phage nodded, holding his daughter close.

"Daddy…guess what?" Amelia asked.

"What?"

"Holy Shit!" She cried laughingly

Phage laughed; tucking his daughter into bed he kissed her forehead softly. Jack followed suit, before they both said good night and left the room. After they had left, Amelia turned over in bed. She stared at the empty space next to her, the space where James should have been. But he wasn't anymore, because he had left. He wouldn't be back for several years. If he came back at all. Amelia grabbed the pillow he would've have been using if he had been there next to her. She pressed her face into it and breathed in his smell. That older brotherish smell the, one that all older brothers have. Amelia hated the fact that James had left. She hated that he had started learning about alchemy. She hated that he had met those older alchemists and then ran away with them. _Damn it! _Amelia thought angrily. _James, why did you have to leave? Why couldn't you just stay home and learn more about alchemy? Why did you have to learn alchemy at all?_ Amelia cried herself to sleep…

…Jack pulled his shirt up over his head and crawled into bed with his mate. Phage pulled him close and they lay together like that for a while. They enjoyed the soothing effect each other's presence had on one another. It was relaxing to go to bed like this after what had happened that day. Phage was glad that Amelia was okay, but what if Gustafa hadn't been curious enough to wander down to the beach? What if no one had found Amelia in time before the tide came up? What if she just drowned, sitting there in the water? Just knowing that Amelia hadn't tried to get away from the incoming tide had had a great effect on Jack. Jack had been devastated by the fact, but miraculously put up a brave front and handled it well. Phage loved his husband so much; he didn't like to see the small brunette so upset.

"I love you." Phage whispered against Jack's soft hair.

"I love you too." Jack replied, snuggling his head against Phage's neck.

…Steven was sitting on his bunk, staring out the window. He couldn't believe that Amelia had let something like that happen to her. Had James leaving really had that big of an effect on her? He wondered. Moonlight spilled in through the window across his bunk, and the floor almost reaching to the first bathroom. The decorating of the dormitory had been finished long ago, but such happy memories were a treasure. Now that everything was going so wrong, there might not be many happy memories to be made. Steven leaned his head against the wall; he had put his glasses on his bedside table. Even though he was on the top bunk, the night table had to levels one for the top bunk, and one for the lower bunk. His raven hair was loose about his shoulders, untamed and scraggly. Golden eyes flitted from the tree right outside his window, to the boy sleeping on the bottom bunk on the other side of the window he had been staring out. Jimmy's hair was just as mussed as Steven's and he had a thumb in his mouth. A thin blanket revealed the top of his bare chest, and when he was asleep he actually looked peaceful. The two had secretly gotten together a couple of years ago, but told no one. How desperately Steven wanted to sleep next to his love, but he knew he couldn't. Then the other guys would start asking questions, and then Jimmy and he would have to tell their secret. Steven wasn't really sure he wanted to do that, and Jimmy had made no protest to keeping it a secret. Steven knew however, that Jimmy wanted to hold his hand in public, and kiss him at the dinner table…and basically do things that he saw Mother Hen and Phage do. But Steven wasn't ready for that, he was scared. He was afraid that things would get more serious after that, and he didn't know what to do. Jimmy would start asking things about where they were headed. Steven wouldn't be able to answer those questions, because even **he** didn't know himself…

…James's eyes flicked from page to page, he was reading a page per minute. He had started drawing out his theories and formulas, maybe it could actually work. This book had offered him a theory that other books he had looked in hadn't. Maybe…just maybe it could work. He would bring back his mother, and they would live together. Yes, they would. And then James wouldn't have to go back to the farm ever, and he would never have to talk with his 'parents' again. Amelia's face briefly flashed in his mind…but as soon as it had appeared it was gone and James was left with a horrible feeling of shame and guilt in his abdomen. A part of him told him to stop the research now, and to go home and live with Jack and Phage, his Mom and Dad, and his baby sister Amelia. But another part of his mind told him to go on, he chose to listen to that part, and continued reading his book. It must've been near midnight, but he didn't care, he had to keep going. He was bout to open up another book, when an angry metal hand smashed the book closed.

"So this is what you've been studying, my foolish apprentice…" James looked up into furious golden eyes.

He wasn't going to live to see tomorrow…

Chapter 5

James was sitting on a very uncomfortable chair in front of his two mentors who were now drilling him with questions. He was ashamed of himself for getting caught, he now realized he probably would not be allowed to visit the library alone anymore, and more importantly he feared for his life.

"Did you honestly think you could successfully bring someone back to life?" Al asked seriously.

"Yes, I did. With enough research, and lots and lots of reading I thought I would have the information needed. I had also planned on practicing on dead animals, like dogs or rabbits. To, I don't know, get the hang of it." James explained, looking at the floor nervously.

"Who were you planning on bringing back?" Edward had his arms crossed, and his eyes were holding a rage so scary that there were no words that would bring it justice.

"I was going to bring back my real mother…I know that Jack and Phage couldn't have possibly brought me into the world without a surrogate mother of some sort. I was hoping to bring her back, so that maybe we could live in the city together. I wouldn't have to go back to the farm and see my _parents_ ever again." James snarled out the word parents like it was a foul word that left a horrible taste in his mouth.

"Why didn't you just ask your parents about this 'real mother' and find out the truth from them? That probably would've have been much easier, and much more legal than the option you chose." Ed explained crisply, walking closer to James.

The boy shivered in his seat. He had grown to respect his mentor, and to fear him. He had heard stories of what Edward had done and was capable of doing. James definitely did NOT want to be on the receiving end of Ed's alchemic wrath.

"I knew they would probably lie to me." James told his mentor, fighting off the case of shivers that had begun to plague him, but to no avail.

"How would you know that? Did they lie to you your entire life? Is there evidence that they have lied to you in the past? If there is, where is this evidence? What is it?" Ed asked questions that James couldn't answer, or think up an answer to in a reasonable amount of time.

_Damn it!_ James thought. He couldn't think of any times when he was living with his parents that they had lied to him. They always told him the truth; they always told him that they loved him before bed even if they were angry with him. His Mom and Dad had never told him how he had come into the world because he had never asked. It was that simple. James would admit that out loud though, he didn't want to see the I-was-right-and-you-were-wrong look on Edward's face. That would be humiliating and annoying.

"Well?" Ed prompted.

"I can't think of any at the moment, but that doesn't-"

Ed cut him off, "Exactly, you weren't thinking, so in a blind rage to get back at your parents for something they've never even done you were going to do something incredibly stupid!"

"Oh, and what you did wasn't incredibly stupid!" James asked.

Ed's face faltered, to James's extreme satisfaction. He had hit a nerve.

"So when you commit the ultimate taboo, human transmutation is okay! But when other people try and do it then suddenly it's something horrible and it shouldn't be done?" James watched a haunted look enter Ed's eyes and continued on, "I've heard the stories of what happened to you two, and what you did! Yeah, I know all about it. So, what did you have to do to get Al's body back, huh? Human transmutation! What? Because you're some famous all powerful alchemists you can bend the rules and disobey the laws and principles!"

Edward turned and walked slowly out of the room. Al looked at James with a murderous anger that he would have never thought to see on the teen's face. He growled under his breath and he too left the room.

Suddenly, James knew he had gone too far. That was something he didn't have the right to talk about. He had used their own mistakes and faults against them in the most cruel and underhanded way possible. James sneered at them. Whatever, it was there fault! They were the ones who brought him in here to interrogate him! They deserved what they had gotten. James no longer felt bad about what he had done. He got up and left to go back to the library. There still some other books that he needed…

…Amelia looked up at the sky from where she had been sitting in the pasture. She had felt something, as though someone she knew was hurting…badly. Amelia gasped, _James._ She stood, looking out over the tall grass and frowned. What was happening? Why did she feel this way? Why did she know what James was feeling? She sat back down in the pasture. Bob and Joe padded over to her. Bob licked her face, but she simply swatted his muzzle away. Joe curled up beside her, and Bob did the same in her lap. The two canines knew something was wrong. Amelia's face was scrunched up in contemplation, and her usually beautiful innocent blue eyes were now a stormy black with golden specks floating in them. The bandana holding back her hair fluttered in the breeze that passed by. It would seem that even the weather knew that she was upset, and was responding appropriately with the cinematic dramatic breeze and white fluffy clouds suddenly turning grey. It was going to rain soon. _Better round up the girls…_Amelia thought.

Recently, Amelia had been helping out more around the farm. She had told her father that she wanted to be more of a help to him, and he instantly began teaching her how to do farm work. Phage had gotten that 'My baby's all grown up' look in his eyes and disappeared into the house. Amelia knew he had gone off to cry a little, the thought made her laugh. All daddies did that. The girl often wondered why. She walked around the valley, looking in all the usual places for the cows to be. Amelia did eventually find the girls, but it was weird, Bessie wasn't with them. She thought on it a while, and decided that Bessie would come back on her own later. The seven year old hopped onto Jelly's back and led the rest of the girls back to the farm where they all hopped over the fence. Together they walked inside at the feeling of small droplets on their backs. Amelia made sure they were all fed, brushed and properly snuggled before heading into the milking room. There she picked up the crates of milk out of the auto-mated milking machine and carried them over to the storage room. After putting the crates of milk in the shipping box, she went to check up on the rest of the farm. Making sure that the chickens and ducks had enough food, and that they hadn't laid anymore eggs in the past couple of hours she went to check on Smithie and the other trees. They all replied that they were fine, and didn't need anything. The baby trees whined quite a bit that they wanted more fertilizer, even though they still had a lot left.

"I think you guys can wait until morning." Amelia told them firmly.

"But 'Melia! We want more now!" One of the baby peach trees whined.

"Well, that's just too bad for you isn't it?"

Amelia then walked over to the house in time for dinner. Still wondering where Bessie had gone off too. But she didn't ponder too much, because Bessie always came back, whether it is several days from when she left or a merely a few hours, the cow would always come back. Amelia clearly had no idea what the rebellious normal cow was up to…

…Bessie was very tired, but it simply had to be done. She was doing it because her humans were too stupid to do anything. They were all ignorant and obviously not aware that James had left and hadn't come back for dinner that same day. He had been gone for over a month! _Stupid humans, sometimes I wonder why I even bother…_ Bessie thought. She knew where James was, and had informed herself and the rest of the herd that she was going to collect him. He was to come home like a good boy without a fuss. After all, Jack was very worried about him. Phage, oh Bessie's lovely Phage was clueless to the whole ordeal; however much Bessie hated to say it.

Several hours later, Bessie arrived in Central. Call it mother's instinct, but she somehow knew that James was somewhere in this city. All she needed to do now was to figure out where James would be. The cow knew she was getting strange looks for walking about the city, but she didn't really care. Didn't other cows wander around here? Surely it was a normal occurrence, right? _If no cows wandered this city, there must be a good reason_ Bessie thought. She continued to walk her way over to a rather large building. It had a human sign on it, thusly was unreadable to her. But it seemed like an important human building. The cows had stayed up late on that day that James left. They had over heard the humans talking about some silly thing that James had to do. The girls knew that it must be some stupid thing that humans thought was gravely important. As this crossed her mind, Bessie realized there was a lot of stupid things that humans thought were 'gravely important'. She walked into the library and immediately let out a loud moo. A very recognizable head among many shot up near by. It was James, with two people that Bessie had only seen on the farm once or twice.

"Bessie!" James called out.

Bessie was happy to be recognized by one of her humans. She then promptly trotted over to him and stomped firmly on one of his toes. James scowled, and sucked in a swear word that Bessie knew he probably would have said if he hadn't been in a big human building. She gave him the most stern, angry look that she could muster. Then, she gave out a very angry moo and grabbed onto his shirt sleeve. Trying to drag him out of the big human building was very difficult. James was very heavy. Not only that, the people he was with was constantly trying to stop her from carrying out her mission. Sometimes, humans could be extremely frustrating…

…James was sitting at a table in the library when Ed and Al found him. They immediately pounced. He was currently trying to look at a book that did not involve human transmutation long enough that maybe his mentors would give up and go away. He knew, unfortunately that his mentors were more stubborn then him. James tried to ignore this fact, and continue reading. His attempts were interrupted by a frighteningly familiar moo; one that he had heard many a time on the farm, shortly before he was coated in cow saliva. _Oh no…_James thought.

"Bessie!" He called out to the cow in response.

The cow trotted over, James was fully prepared to be covered in cow spit. What he wasn't prepared for was Bessie angrily stomping on his left toes. He bit his lip to keep from screaming.

"Why is there a cow in the library? And how do you know this cow?" Ed questioned in a confused voice.

"She's one of the cows from the farm I used to live on…she probably decided to come after me and bring me home." James explained.

"She walked all the way to Central City by herself to bring you back? What kind of weird cow is she?" Al questioned in disbelief.

"Well, she was my father's first cow that might explain it a bit." James hurriedly told them before Bessie tried to pull him away.

"Don't even try and stop her guys, there's no use. Bessie is extremely determined, and there is no way you can possibly stop her if she has her mind set on something." James exclaimed.

Ed replied, "But she's still a cow. Are you saying that I'm not strong enough to stop a cow from kidnapping you!"

"No, I'm just stating the facts so you don't get your hopes up!" James shouted, Bessie and him were almost to the door.

In fact, James was telling the truth. Bessie had him half way back to the farm when Ed finally managed to stop her. He picked her up and tied her ankles together. Then with her over his shoulder Ed took her back to the farm and Al took James back to the dorms. It certainly had been an eventful day…

…The next day Phage was sitting out front of the house watching Amelia carry the milk and eggs into the storage room when a familiar figure came shuffling onto the farm. It was Ed! And he was carrying Bessie over his shoulders….wait a minute.

"Hello Edward!" Phage called, "Why do you have Bessie with you? What happened?"

"She made her way to Central City and tried to bring James home." Ed explained, "She almost succeeded to, Bessie had gotten James half way home when I finally managed to stop her. You have one good cow Mr. McDougall."

Phage grinned sheepishly, "Just untie her and go ahead and put her in the pasture with the rest of the girls. I don't think she'll try again."

"Alright, I just hope I don't get my State Alchemist qualification taken away for this. I mean, they'll probably think it was my fault a cow wandered into the national archives. It was my apprentice she was after." Ed said calmly as he set Bessie down in the pasture.

The super cow gave him a nasty glare. She then trotted over to the rest of the herd and mooed loudly. _Probably relating the details of her trip…_Ed thought dismally. He had no idea how wrong he was. A few minutes later, a herd of very angry looking cows rammed the fence, officially scaring the shit out of Ed.

"What the hell!" Ed shouted, falling backwards and scrambling to get as far away from the fence as possible.

"They probably don't like you because you meddled with Bessie's plans. I suggest you leave now if you don't want to be trampled to death by a herd of angry cows." Amelia explained, coming up to pet Bessie on the forehead.

Bessie mooed appreciatively, but continued glaring at Ed.

"Hey Mr. Alchemist!" Amelia called, "When do you think James will be coming back?"

Edward Elric turned to the young girl and saw the hope in her eyes; he hated to crush that hope. But he knew that James wouldn't be able to come home for another couple of years.

"Not for a while." Ed told her.

Amelia sadly looked at the ground, her hands gripped the handles of the wheel barrow she was pushing so tight her knuckles turned white. As Ed walked past her, he put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly, before walking off of the farm…

…Amelia grimly continued with her chores. But it was definitely harder to carry on now that she knew for sure that James wasn't coming home any time soon. She wished that Bessie had succeeded in her mission, to bring James back. Amelia didn't blame Mr. Ed, he had after all apologized. It was his fault that James wanted to learn more about alchemy, he had told the truth in that James would be gone for many years…and James had gone anyway.

Later that evening, Amelia sat in the middle of the orchard of baby trees. The air around her smelled like fertilizer, and the dirt was wet beneath her jeans. The night sky was a dark indigo, while the rim along the beach and hills was a light pink. Her stomach grumbled but she ignored it as her head fell on top of her arms on her knees. She curled up under the showers that started breaking out above her. The water droplets that started to cover her didn't bring her back to the house. The girl simply stayed there, out in the rain…not really caring how wet she got or that she would most likely have a cold tomorrow. She wanted to disappear, into the cold wet earth. Let a huge black hole open up beneath her and swallow her whole. Or better yet, she wished she hadn't been born at all. That way she never would have to experience the misery she was right then…but oh well…guess she had to keep living anyway. _Oh well,_ She thought dimly lifting her head up to look at her father whom had come out to check on her, _maybe I'll stay till tomorrow…but then I'm definitely leaving the world._ That was her decision. But then the next day, she was sitting at the table eating dinner with her parents, and saw how her mother looked lost and barely holding on. Amelia couldn't leave…not yet, James had already abandoned their mother and father. Amelia would be just as bad as James if she left like that. Her mother needed her that much was clear. It was horrible for a mother to lose his/her children; it just wasn't mean to happen. It was a cruel and unusual punishment that was bestowed onto many mothers. Amelia didn't want her mother to lose both of his children. _So maybe I'll stay…for just a little while._

**TBC… **


	4. Chapter 4

Gee Golly Swell Farm Life

Chapter 1

A lovely girl of about 17 walked over to a tall orchard of trees. This girl had long flowing sandy brown hair with orange stripes, and beautiful blue eyes. She wore a pleated skirt that was made of a simple canvas material and a zonker green baby tee with a lime green alien on it. Under the picture of the alien was one word: Zim. This girl was quite shapely, and any teenage boy in his right mind would want her. That wasn't the only reason why she was sought after by 99.999 of the male population. She was also a wicked spit fire whose attitude couldn't be described adequately by any word in the Webster's English Dictionary. This girl could best any boy in the valley at arm wrestling; she could catch the most fish, and could run the full length of the valley in less then five minutes. She was considered a goddess. But in her own mind, she was nothing more than a performer, put up on stage daily for the crowds to enjoy. An empty shell that had a curled handle stabbed into its back. When you grabbed the handle, you would twist it in a clockwise manner as to wind up the shell so that it could perform its routine once again. She was nothing more than a toy, one that many enjoyed playing with. This girl was Amelia McDougall…

…A handsome man of about 20 graced the room with a sinister smile. He was finally ready to perform that utterly retched science, the one they called taboo. Everything was ready. He walked over to the center, and cut his hand deep with a very sharp knife. Crimson blood used out of the center of his palm and onto the ash black materials in a large pan. One whole ounce of his blood was scattered onto the whole pile. After this he took a step back and spoke in a loud clear voice:

"Bring back to me my true mother! The one who brought me into this world, the one whose womb I came from! Bring her to me here and now with this transmutation I am now to perform!"

He fell to his knees at the edge of the circle and slapped his hands down onto the cold brick floor on the transmutation array. A blinding swirl of lights appeared, at first gold, then purple, and then a horrifying crimson red. Something inside of him dissolved and disappeared, his right leg from the knee down was ripped from him by small writhing hands. The man screamed at the top of his lungs, while keeping his hands on the transmutation array firmly concentrating on his goal. He could not let this pain get in the way of what he had worked so hard for. He would NOT give up.

After what seemed like forever, the lights stopped, and the great mist that had clouded the room began to clear. The desperate man looked up while holing onto the bloody stump that had once been his right leg. What he saw tore at his very soul. Sitting in the pan in the middle of the array, was a very familiar body. Everything had gone as it was supposed to, except for the soul binding. The man hadn't been able to affix the soul to the body of his creation…suddenly he couldn't look at the result of his transmutation array anymore. In that pan in the middle of the room was a brunette man of the age of twenty, one with soft soulless blue eyes, pale skin and muscled torso. The alchemist whom now collapsed onto the cold brick floor sighed in disgust with himself.

"How ironic…" He rasped, the loss of blood making his vision fade, "The one person whom I have sought for so long, was already in this world…he was always with me in the one place I left foolishly so many years ago."

Two older men rushed into the room. One was tall and blonde and the other was slightly shorter with sandy brown hair. The blonde picked up the bloody man on the floor. This man, (the one who treaded into the realm of the gods, into human transmutation just a few moments ago) his name is James McDougall…

… Amelia continued to stare up into the sky with empty eyes. The cause of her emptiness was her older brother's disappearance so many years ago. She could barely remember her brother now or there adventures really. Her mind seemed clouded over on the subject of her brother. Maybe it was her mind's subconscious way of protecting itself. Amelia couldn't really tell. The harvesting had already been finished for spring, and the summer months were slowly catching up with the McDougall family. The summer harvest would begin soon and Amelia would finally have something to distract herself with. The teen stood, smoothing out her skirt and tugging down the hem of her t-shirt. Many people would call her family rich. In fact, she guessed it would be true. They certainly lived comfortably and never had to worry about money issues. But Amelia wasn't really sure of how much money they actually had, nor did she care for that matter. Her father gave her a monthly allowance that suited her needs. Whenever she went into two she could buy anything she wanted, whether it's the hottest new clothing or a brand new CD player or head phones. It didn't matter, because there was always more than enough money.

Amelia was going to go inside the house and veg out in her bedroom, when Hugh ran up to her. She withheld an annoyed sigh and looked up in time to greet the horn dog she grudgingly called a friend.

"What's up Hugh?" Amelia greeted, wearing a smug smirk on her face.

"Nothing in particular…" He returned the smirk to its fullest while holding his arms behind his back.

"What you got there? Are you here to give me a present, or to brag about something you have and I don't?" Amelia asked tonelessly.

"Actually I'm here to invite you to something." Hugh replied matter of factly.

"And what would that be?"

"The nickel back concert in central, front and center tickets." The teenage boy waved the tickets mockingly in her face.

Amelia immediately forgot her previous depression at the sight of the tickets to the concert she had only been dreaming of going to for months. She weighed her options; she could ask her parents or not ask and sneak out tomorrow night. The girl told her friend to wait right there and hurried over to the house. Inside, her father was sitting on the couch in front of the TV reading a newspaper and watching the news channel at the same time. Amelia walked up behind him and proposed the situation.

"Father?" She asked sweetly.

"Ugh." He grunted.

Good, if he had responded and turned around then there was no way she would be able to get away with the following conversation. If the man grunted then he was only semi-listening and thusly wouldn't put a lot of thought into his answers.

"If your beloved daughter were to sneak out to a concert tomorrow night and not be back to all hours of the morning, how much trouble would she get in?" Amelia questioned.

"She would be banned from joy for two weeks. Thank you for asking Amelia, what concert?" Phage McDougall turned around to face his daughter.

He turned off the TV and set his newspaper aside. Amelia swallowed nervously; she hadn't expected her dad to be smart today. _Damn._ The 40 year old man smirked knowingly and stared his daughter down.

"You know that Nickel Back concert I've been dying to go to for months!" Amelia queried dramatically not waiting for him to answer she continued, "Well, Hugh has two front row center seat tickets to the show and I really want to go, PLEASE DADDY!"

Amelia got on her knees and stuck out her bottom lip so far it might as well have been an airport runway because a Boeing 767 could have easily landed on it. She blinked her eyes cutely and held her hands together under her chin…

…_She must really want to go to this concert_ Phage thought; _she's pulling out the heavy artillery here. She's using the lip pout and the baby eyes, and she said 'daddy'._ Phage knew that there was no way he would survive this without letting his daughter go to the concert. Well, if she was going to play the hard way than he would too.

"HONEY!" Phage called.

Jack McDougall rushed into the room, he surveyed the situation. The brunette calmly walked over and looked between the two. Phage looked like he was being resisting screaming out during some sort of medieval torture session.

"What does she want?" Jack asked, while crossing his arms over his apron-ed chest.

"She wants to go to a Nickel Back concert tomorrow night with Hugh." Phage squealed in pain and covered his face while muttering insanely, "See no evil, see no evil, see no evil…"

Jack shook his head and cheerfully told his daughter, "You can go to the concert."

Phage looked at his husband confused while Amelia began to jump into the air and whoop.

"But you have to take Steven and Mark with you." Jack added.

Amelia was in mid jump when her happiness was deflated, "What!"

"You heard me." Jack said firmly.

Amelia collapsed to the ground as if she'd been shot. Her body twitched on the ground to the point observers might have thought she was having spasms. She screamed into the floor.

"If Steven and Mark don't want to go then you can't go." Jack told his daughter before heading complacently back to the kitchen.

Phage watched his daughter continue to have seizures on the floor and decided it would be best to escape the house before she exploded. He had said it before and he said it again in his mind, _raising teenagers is like trying to nail jello to a tree._

Chapter 2

Amelia was in extreme agony. She had wandered over to the dormitory earlier to see if Steven and Mark would go to the concert with her and Hugh. Both men promptly told her that they did in fact have better things to do then chaperone a date however amusing it would be to beat up a 20 year old boy that was hitting on their _cute little Amelia_. Said cute little Amelia was now seething with anger in her bedroom while blasting Nickel Back into her ears with her 'hate-the-world-device'. Life was cruel sometimes. Wait, scratch that. Life was cruel ALL the time. Amelia sighed heavily, allowing herself to fall back onto her bed. It had always been too big for her. When she was little she could curl up in the middle and have a good 3 foot radius of nothing around her. Now it was still big for her. Amelia could lay her head comfortably on the pillow and be laying with her arms stretched out as far as they could go above her head and have legs completely stretched out and she wouldn't be able to touch either end of the bed. Amelia was 5'7". There was no way in hell she was going to go to that concert and not have consequences later. Steven and Mark wouldn't go. That was her one legal way out of the situation. _DAMN IT! _ She screeched mentally. Way to ruin any hopes of drooling over eye candy oh beloved parental units! Damnity damn damn damn! The teenage girl let out a thoroughly enraged groan before turning over so her bare belly was being pressed against clean white linen. Breathing in the calming scent of laundry soap, Amelia gave up hope of enjoying herself for the next three weeks. She was going to have to sneak out to go to the concert tomorrow night with Hugh…oh well, it would be worth it though.

The day after the concert marked the first day of summer harvesting. Amelia did not have a CD player, a book of any kind, computer access, TV viewing privileges, or any sort of fun instigating outlet available to her for the next three weeks. Oh well, it had definitely been worth it. The teen goddess smirked. The lead singer had thought she was hot, and even asked her if she wanted to see his hotel room. The flattery was nice, but in reality the girl knew she couldn't take him up on the offer. It went against her moral values, and she didn't feel like giving away her virginity to some guy (however drool worthy) that didn't deserve it. That was wrong on so many levels. Amelia picked another ripe peach from its place in the tall tree and set it in her already heavy basket. She had enough room for the rest that were on the tree she was working on.

The farm had grown a bit since a couple years ago. Since the new orchard over on the extremely fertile soil had started producing fruit there was so much fruit that they didn't have enough seed makers to handle the load. So, they bought two dozen more seed makers. There was a whole new room for just seed makers that had been added onto the tool room. Myishi farm was known in the big cities now as one of the top places to buy fruit seeds from. Every gardening shop in the big cities would come to the farm once a month and pick up a shipment of seeds and pay more than any small town stand would dream of. But picking the fruit was still a lot of work. Amelia's father refused to get the machines that were available that could help with the fruit picking during the busier seasons. He also didn't want to get any more farm hands. So the massive job was divided up amongst Amelia, Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy. There were a total of 4 summer trees in the smaller plot next to the house, and seven in bigger plot on the other side of the chicken coop. And a whopping 24 summer trees in the newest orchard where Amelia was currently standing. Finally done with that tree she headed over to the seed maker room and filled two seed makers with peaches. Then she went to check if any of the other seed makers had seeds ready to crate up. Three of them were ready. Amelia went over to the deep cabinet filled with large crates, she pulled out two. Then she took out four smaller ones that would fit inside the previous boxes she had carried out. The teen began sorting the seeds into different small wooden boxes. After that was done she put the smaller crates into the big ones, one on top of the other. This way they were now organized and easy to access. Amelia picked up the crates one at a time and put them in the area of the room set aside for the shipments. She labeled them for the correct store and then headed back out to the orchard with her basket.

Joey met her with a Cheshire cat grin. Amelia looked fondly at the man. He had always been one her favorites amongst the farm hands that lived with her family. In fact, they didn't just live with her family; they were a part of the family. The male had been significantly overweight when he had arrived on the farm, but now he was slim and trim, and even appeared to be getting some muscle from all the work. Amelia felt a sudden surge of nostalgia for the man waving at her under a pear tree. She ran so fast towards him that when she collided with him she brought them both to the ground. The girl had her arms around his neck and she sobbed into his shoulder. Joey awkwardly put his arms around her comfortingly. He murmured soothing words in her ear. Amelia knew that she was getting close to her time of the month…damn pre-menstrual mood swings! She raised her head and looked up into Joey's face. Dark green curls fell in front of embarrassed grey eyes. Amelia's eyes traced his narrow jaw, and his thin pale lips. She felt a sudden forward momentum take hold of her. But before her body did something she didn't want it to do, Amelia fought the urge and got up quickly. She offered Joey a hand.

"I'm sorry…uh, you tell any of the guys about this and you will die a slow painful death!" Amelia glared at him and he smirked at her.

"I wouldn't have to…hey guys, did you get all of that on camera?" Joey looked over to the wide open dormitory window where five amused faces looked on.

Amelia's face was on fire. They were so dead! Her callused hands curled into angry fists. She stomped over to the side of the dormitory. The boys laughed at her, and then she grabbed hold of the window and slammed it so hard they all fell backwards from the force. Screams of extreme pain could be heard by anyone within a 100 yard radius. Both parental units ran out of the house and over to the general vicinity from which the screams were emanating.

"Amelia!"

"What?" Amelia turned to look at her parents.

"You just earned yourself another week of grounding, young lady!" Jack shouted.

"But Mom, they were-"

"A week and a half." Jack's voice was daring his daughter to try and continue.

"Never mind."

Amelia took a few deep breaths, then picked up her basket and moved onto another tree to pick fruits. She was working late into the night, well past midnight. Now none of the boys were out to help her. The farm hands were inside being pampered by her mother and were being apologized to by her father. The teen growled loudly in the direction of the house. Just as she was about to pick another fruit from the tree, the memory of her face being so close to Joey's came back to her. An electric shock coursed through her entire body. What the hell? She had never felt this way about Joey before. The girl gasped, almost dropping her basket at the revelation that now filled her mind. She couldn't like Joey, could she? What was the point? It wasn't like anything would come of it. He was too old for her. He wasn't too old to be attractive. The man certainly was attractive, very much so. But if Amelia's feelings got stronger there was no way she could act on them. It would ruin the relationship they had, and not only that but Amelia's mother wouldn't allow it. She took a few deep breaths. _Don't think about him, don't think about him…_

_One minute she was simply standing in front of him, the next she had her arms wrapped around his neck and her lips pressed against his. Her hands were his hair, and his hands were on the small of her back. He was doing something wonderful with his tongue in her mouth, and suddenly there was a hand on her bare stomach. Their tongues engaged in a wet sensuous dance, and their hands roamed all over their bodies. Moans of pleasure escaped both of them as their ministrations never stopped. It was as if they didn't need air, so there was no need to stop the kissing. Next thing she knew they were on the ground, and he was kissing up and down her neck, her jaw, behind her ear, the top of her…_

"Amelia! Yoohoo, is anyone home?" Jimmy asked.

Amelia shook her head and looked around; the sun had just started rising. The six farm hands were gathered around her. Some of them were laughing, others were modestly hiding their amusement (AKA Timmy and Steven). She shot them all a poisonous glare.

"What's so funny?" She glared icily at all of the laughing men standing around her.

"I don't know, should we tell her guys?" Jimmy looked back at Mark, Matt, and a very embarrassed Joey.

Oh no, Amelia had a feeling she knew where this was heading.

"Well, you were sorta talking in your sleep," Jimmy started stopping to snigger into his hands.

_Gods no, please not that…_ Amelia sent a prayer to any higher power that might have been gracious enough to listen.

"And you were kinda calling out Joey's name like you two were…you know…taking a roll in the hay." He winked at her.

Amelia's face was so red she must've resembled nothing better than the tomatoes they grew during the summer. Joey was blushing almost as much as she was .She stared at the ground for what seemed like hours, wishing they'd just go away, or moving onto a different plot to start chores. But they didn't, so she stood up and continued her work where she had left off when she fell asleep last night.

For the rest of the day, she ignored all of them, especially Joey. Amelia tried to avoid the green haired man like the plague, but it seemed that the rest of the farm hands were trying to make that as hard for her as possible. What was their problem? Were they some kind of sadists? Amelia finally collapsed onto her bed at around one in the morning. She just hoped that she didn't have another 'loud' dream like the one her 'friends' had so mercilessly teased her about all day. Her parent's room was right on the other side of the wall that the head of her bed was pressed up against. If they heard her; that was it…she would die of embarrassment. It was bad enough that the guys had heard her, now she would never live it down. She knew they weren't cruel enough to tell her parents about it, but that didn't mean that they weren't cruel enough to tease her about it for the rest of her life during work. Amelia pulled her work shirt over her head, and tugged off her jeans. Just as she was about to put on some comfy sweat pants and a white tummy shirt there was a knock on her door. Thinking it was probably just her Mom, Amelia called for the person to come in.

"Oh, uh…um, I'll come back later…sorry!" Joey was about to leave when Amelia stopped him.

"No, wait Joey." Amelia put on her pajamas really quick and shut the door before the man could leave.

"I'm sorry about…what happened." Amelia blushed a dark red, "I don't really want to feel this way, but I'm currently blaming it on P.M.S. so maybe it'll go away by next month. I know you're probably just as embarrassed as I am, maybe even more so. But nothing's going to happen, right?"

Joey looked down into her embarrassed face. Her eyes caught his, and suddenly it was as if she had just drank a gallon of anesthetic. The girl's body couldn't move no matter how much she told it to. What was going on? She could feel gravity pull their faces closer together. _No, Amelia what are you doing!_ Her mind screeched. But the teen couldn't stop her body from doing what it was doing. She had no control. When their lips met all previous care was thrown to the wind. Amelia wrapped her arms around Joey's neck, and he wrapped his arms around her waist pulling them closer together. The kiss was soft and gentle, but slowly became more hungry and passionate. Amelia's bold tongue slipped between Joey's lips and he willing let her continue. Once her tongue was in his mouth he began to trace sensuous circles on it with his own tongue. Her soft moan was what broke the spell. Joey immediately let go of her and stopped the kiss. They were both breathless, staring wide eyed at each other. The man quickly left the room without a word, and Amelia could hear the front door open and close. She reached a shaking hand up to her lips. That had been her first kiss.

Amelia lay curled up in bed, trying to will sleep to come to her but to no avail. Thoughts of her and Joey's kiss still plagued her mind. She was torn. It had been her first kiss and she had hoped that it would be with some amazing boyfriend that she loved beyond reason. She had never imagined that her first kiss would belong to Joey, her loveable adopted brother since she was one. He was what, 16 years older then her? Wasn't that illegal? _Oh my god…_ Amelia laid her face in her hands and quietly cried. She couldn't control her emotions right now! What if something happened? And after she was over her 'mood swing time' and she suddenly didn't feel anything for Joey? There was no way that she could let that happen!

The next day, Amelia and Joey both avoided each other even more then the day before. It seemed that the guys knew something was up, and that it wouldn't be a good idea to try and bug them anymore. Amelia had completely forgotten about being grounded, and the next couple of weeks passed by in a blur. When her parents handed back her CD player, her laptop, headphones, CDS, Mangas, books, and internet cable she looked at them as if she had never seen them before. What were these items? Had they once held some important place in her life? Her parents also told her that she could now watch TV if she wished. Amelia's mind asked confusedly _what's a TV? How do I watch it? Why would I want to watch it? Is it normally a part of my everyday routine? Why would I care about this 'TV'?_ Her brain just couldn't remember what it was like before she had gotten so suddenly caught up in her newfound feelings for Joey. Even after her period was over, and the after shock week had passed, her feelings didn't go away. What the hell? Why was life so cruel? What did she do that was so horrible that now she had forgotten how to live properly? It was like she was a model of a product that just didn't work. Maybe this was how life really was, and she was never given the instruction manual? _That's what I need,_ Amelia thought one day in August, _Worst case scenario survival guide to unexpected crushes_.

It was now mid August, and she had no idea what to do. Her feelings for Joey hadn't faded and she hadn't gone shopping in months. There was clearly something wrong with her. Her wardrobe was looking sickeningly familiar day in and day out. There was no new clothing. It would seem that her mind couldn't really comprehend the process. She would look at the contents of her closet, and then at her dresser drawers. Her eyes seemed to expect new clothing to appear out of thin air at their command. Maybe, if she stared at them long enough, she would get her way. Yes, that was it. Just stare…

"God Damn it!" Amelia shouted suddenly in the middle of crating up the milk from the milk room.

She couldn't take it anymore! Amelia was going shopping, that would take her mind off of Joey. As soon as her chores were done she was going into town, and getting a pedicure and a manicure. She was going to buy as many new pairs of jeans as she wanted, maybe she'd buy some new shoes, and skirts. She would also buy a new hair brush and some new hair bands. That was definitely what she was going to do.

Amelia walked through the store, looking at all of the different clothing racks. She picked up random t-shirts and ran to the fitting room where she immediately tried them on. Deciding she liked all of them, she put them in her shopping cart that was very quickly becoming full of clothes, shoes; make up, perfume, and nail polish.

_Four hours and 6,597 G later… _

Amelia was finally satisfied. She had managed to persuade some of the male employees at the store to help load her purchases into the large sturdy wooden cart she had brought with her. The cart was harnessed to 'Little Billy' Myishi Farm's new horse. Little Billy was a large intimidating Clydesdale draft horse. He had a dark onyx black coat and a chestnut mane and tail. His stockings were a shocking white, and his hooves were all about the size of dinner plates. Amelia's head was three inches below his shoulders. Even though Little Billy's appearance might be intimidating, everyone on Myishi Farm knew he was a sweet heart.

Once everything was loaded into the cart, Amelia climbed into the back and told Billy to start heading home. After she had given the instructions, the girl could lay back and relax. Little Billy knew the way home, and she wouldn't have to be constantly up and alert for any dangers. Little Billy was however sweet loveable, wouldn't think twice about protecting his master. The ride home was basically uneventful, and Amelia realized that Joey hadn't once entered her mind that day. She had stopped worrying about her crush on him, and actually focused on shopping. Amelia soon figured out that if she didn't think about it, and focused on doing something for herself, she felt much better. _Wow, I can't believe it was _that_ simple…_Amelia thought in shock. She had spent her entire summer freaking about something, she could have easily solved in a matter of days. When she got home Amelia spent the evening showing her Mom all of the new things she had bought. She had a great time, and completely forgot about her supposed sickness.

Chapter 3

When James opened his eyes, he was lying down in a very uncomfortable bed. Everything around him was that annoying sterile shade of white. There was something missing where his left arm should've been, and where his right leg usually was. What had happened? James thought hard, he had prepared for the transmutation to bring back his mother. Then, he had proceeded as planned with the transmutation, but what had happened afterwards? The man continued to think. Suddenly his mentors came into the room, Alphonse looked concerned and Edward looked just plain angry. James started to sit up but Edward delivered a cruel backhand that sent him straight back down again.

"How dare you worry me like that you fool! You annoying, stupid, idiotic, apprentice! I can't believe you tried something so stupid! Even after we told you over and over again during your years of training not to! What is wrong with you!" Ed was screaming like an enraged mother at her child whom had just deliberately disobeyed her.

"…" James didn't speak for several minutes, taking in the absence of two very important parts of his body.

"What happened to me?" James questioned calmly.

"During the transmutation you lost your left arm and your right leg." Al all but whispered.

"What about the result? What about my mother?" James asked fearfully.

Ed frowned deeply before saying, "Your MOTHER was nothing more than a soulless clone of Jack at the age of 20. You transmuted the body perfectly but you couldn't bind the soul because it was already bound to the original body which is still alive."

James's eyes widened severely, all the memories of that night rushed back to him. He remembered looking up and seeing his Mom, the one and only lying in that blood stained pan. His eyes soft and emotionless, no soul behind them at all. James closed his eyes, his breaths coming out shaky. How could that be the answer? After all that he worked for, that was what it all came to? His mother was Jack McDougall, husband of Phage McDougall, both of which had raised him since birth. But he never thought it could be that simple…why? Why didn't he just believe them? Why did he have to waste ten years of his life away from his real family, chasing some stupid lie? James took a shaking right hand and placed it on the stump where his right leg used to be, feeling new skin grown, filling with bones and muscles and new nerves. Nothing was connected yet so it was still a bag of tissue basically. Next he did the same thing with his left arm. Skin, muscle, bone, and new nerves grew before his eyes. Al and Ed looked on wide eyed. James then clapped his right hand twice on his numb left and pressed it against his forearm. He winced, biting his tongue to keep from screaming as all of his bones, muscles, and new nerves in his left arm were all connected at the same time. The sudden surge of pain almost made him faint, but he focused clearly on the task at hand. James followed the same procedure with his right leg. Soon he was flexing the muscles and moving his new limbs around to test them out. They would probably be awkward for the next couple of days, but oh well.

James slid out of the uncomfortable hospital bed and walked over to his mentor, "This is going to hurt a little, but I would like to restore your arm and leg. If you would like me to that is…"

Ed nodded calmly, "I can take the pain, apprentice."

James knew that was Ed's way of saying 'if you don't restore my arm and leg right now I'm going to chew your head off. So he went about the task of sitting his mentor down on the hospital bed and removing his auto-mail. James did it the quicker way with Ed, it would probably be more painful but it was much faster then doing it the other way. Instead of connecting the nerves, muscles, and skin after they had been grown, he made it so that they would connect while they were growing. This hurt worse then attaching auto-mail, or anything else thought to be the most painful event in the world. James took a step back to admire his handy work. Ed's arm was restored, and so was his left leg from the knee down. It was a work of art. At the sign of purple sparkles sprouting, Ed stood up quick as lightening and slapped his apprentice in the face. Al had run to hide under the hospital bed as soon as he had seen the traits of Alex Armstrong appear in his James.

"How can you do this?" Ed asked.

"Well, it all started when I began practicing body transmutations on animals. I would kill an animal like a rabbit or a mouse and then bring them back to life. I would lose things like toes or fingers because of it." James explained, "The first time I lost one of my big toes, I had held the stump and cried out, wishing that my toe would come back and the pain would stop. Next thing I knew, I was holding my big toe, only I couldn't feel it."

Ed nodded, as did Al whom had come out from under the bed now.

"I remember you and Al talking about how you could perform transmutation without a circle because you had seen the gate. I remembered that when I had brought the mouse back to life, I had seen a tall ominous gate, and a million different things. So I tried clapping my hands…but I clapped twice because I couldn't remember exactly what you did. But suddenly, a fire ant bit me at the base of my big toe where I still had feeling. When I went to swat it away, I ended up grabbing my toe and all the feeling came back."

"I figured out quickly that I could restore my fingers and toes if I willed it hard enough, and focused clearly on how they looked right before they were taken. I would draw the proper elements from other parts of my body, and used them to grow new toes, or fingers…"

"…or arms or legs." Ed finished.

"Exactly, after that I would clap my hands twice and touch the numb part and all the nerve strands, muscles, and bones would connect. I had gotten pretty could at the fingers, and toes bit. But this was my first time restoring a whole arm, or leg." James told his mentors.

"Hmm. I guess after seeing the gate so many times, it must've become second nature to you. I wonder what other abilities you might have." Al pondered.

James looked over at the younger Elric brother intrigued by his statement. The apprentice thought back to all the strange things that had happened to him during his various transmutations. Once he could recall wandering around inside the gate just for the heck of it. For some reason, the souls inside didn't bother him, sometimes they would talk to him or follow him around. The cherubic black figures never harmed him, but more like watched him. It was as if they were afraid to touch him almost. Or maybe they had simply gotten used to the sight of him. James loved to visit the gate; the small souls would tell him things about the future, or even beyond the gate. The last time he had visited, when he had tried to bring back his 'mother' they were about to tell him something. They had said it was something they were shocked to discover themselves; they said they had thought he would like to know. Yes, the souls were just about to tell him what that thing was, when he had woken up so suddenly in the hospital room.

James thought about telling his mentors all of this, but then decided not to. He also knew that he could understand animals when they spoke. It must've come from killing and resurrecting so many animals. James had found that when he walked out into the sun his pupils would periodically slit. When he ate meet, often times his canine teeth would grow sharper. Once, he had been almost reached that state of mind where you weren't asleep but you weren't really awake…and he heard himself purring. It was odd, just the other day; he had heard some crows talking. Supposedly they had been talking to a Clydesdale horse just a couple days ago and he had been quite the nice horse to talk to. Apparently he lived on some farm or other, the name of it started with an M they were sure of it. James had gotten used to being approached by cats and dogs, and having conversations with pigeons. It was simply a part of his everyday routine now-a-days. James could imagine coming home to the farm, and being able to understand Bessie's moos, or Bob and Joe's wild barks. He quirked a smile at the thought, James decided he could tell his mentors about the animal thing…that would be alright.

"Well there is this one thing that I can do that's pretty weird." James chuckled at what he was about to tell the two brothers.

"What is it?"

"I can talk to animals."

"You can what!" Al asked.

"How did you learn to do that! Please tell me! I wish I could talk to animals." Al pleaded.

"You have to kill and resurrect **a lot** of animals, of all types, ranging from dogs, to cats, to pigeons, crows, mice, rats, snakes, etc." James explained, "But you know, some animals are pretty rude. There was this one mouse the other day that I said hello to, and he promptly told me to fuck off."

Ed laughed at this, Al looked absolutely mortified, and James cried 'it's true!' quite indignantly.

"I also show animal traits and random intervals. Like sometimes, when I'm eating meet my canine teeth sharpen, or if I'm walking out in the son my pupils will slit. Once when I got home after a late night of studying and researching, I curled up in bed and started purring. I think I ate a fly once, and hissed at someone." James rattled off of the weird things that he had done.

"Whoa, that's really strange. I guess some of your genes must have been spliced with those of the animals you resurrected." Al murmured.

"Probably, I can't wait to go home just for the sole purpose of talking to Bessie, and the dogs. That's gonna be hilarious." James laughed, running his hands through his hair.

Ed and Al shared an awkward look. James looked between them both confusedly…what was going on?

"Uh hey, did I say something or…?"

"You can't go home for another couple of months James." Ed said calmly.

"Why?"

"Your training technically still isn't finished. You have at least three more months of work left to do." Al told him.

James stared at the two men with a dumbstruck look on his face. A minute later, his mouth was set in a firm line and his eyes stubbornly bore a hole through the two brothers.

"No. I quit. I want to go home NOW. I absolutely **_refuse_** to keep training." James said dead pan.

"Are you sure? Don't you want to…?" Al trailed off at the look in James's eyes.

Al remembered the events of yesterday. The younger male would definitely want to go home as soon as possible, to see his mother and father, and his sister. His whole family hadn't seen him in ten years, much less received a letter from him, or a phone call. But there wasn't any way that James could go back right now. There was too much to be done.

"I'm sorry James, but you can't go back now. You only have three more months; if you've lasted ten years then you can take another twelve weeks." Ed told his apprentice firmly.

"But during those ten years, I didn't…I-I didn't know…" James bit back the quiver in his voice, forcing unshed tears to remain within him.

He couldn't cry in front of his mentors; that would be humiliating. James refused to cry, he wouldn't do it. But no matter how much he tried to stop the salty tears from leaking from his eyes, there were just some things that couldn't be stopped. James shoved his chin against his chest and stared at the floor. He choked back sobs as best as he could, but it didn't matter. His shoulders were shaking violently, and several of his tears had already fallen to the floor. Suddenly, James could feel warm arms around him. He knew who they belonged to. James clutched the red robes tightly in his hands, and buried his head into Ed's neck. He stopped holding back. Sobs racked his lithe form, as he cried against his mentor's neck. Edward wrapped his arms even tighter around his waist, all the while whispering sweet nothings in his ear. The Full Metal alchemist's blonde bangs tickled James's neck, and he shivered at the feeling. Suddenly, Ed pulled him back cupping James's chin his right hand. The younger male blushed as his mentor kissed his forehead softly. Ed trailed kisses down over his apprentice's closed eyes, his cheeks and lightly on his lips before pulling away. The blonde then proceeded to rub soothing circles on James's back, waist, hips, chest, and stomach. James couldn't help the purr that escaped him. He opened his eyes to see an astonished Al and a smirking Edward.

"What!" James exclaimed, "Every cat purrs when someone pets them."

At that Ed couldn't help but laugh. James lost some of his previous anger, smiling at his mentor. The man always seemed to find a way to cheer James up. ..

…James was bouncing off the walls. It was the last day of August. Tomorrow was the day that he was going home. He would get to see his family. He would be able to talk to everyone and finally make up for the ten years that he was gone. But most of all James wanted to apologize to his parents, and to tell his Mother everything. He needed to feel Mother's arms around him, and his soft loving voice. Damn it, he wouldn't mind a smack to the head with the good ol' frying pan if it meant home.

Ed suddenly walked into the room. He came up behind his apprentice, and nipped playfully at his ear. James instinctively purred. He hated that he did it, but he guessed that it couldn't be helped. Purring was one of the things that he did now, thanks to all of those resurrections of cats that he had performed. James almost couldn't believe that Ed was now his lover. It was something that had just happened, he wasn't really sure how, but it had. The 'mentor' and 'apprentice' relationship had faded, and had somehow melded into a boyfriend and boyfriend relationship instead. James had decided to bring Ed home with him. That way he could introduce him to his family as his boyfriend instead of his mentor. There was a significant difference.

Al on the other hand was going to stay in Central City. He had found a 'significant other' as well. But he certainly had decided on one that no one would have suspected. Roy Mustang did in fact have a weakness (besides the coffee which is his life source): Alphonse Elric. The colonel could be beaten, poisoned, and stabbed to death by someone and he still wouldn't do what they wanted. But if Al walked into his office and demanded that he take him shopping later, Roy would say 'Yes dear' like a good boyfriend without hesitation. In fact, they were quite cute together. Even Riza Hawkeye had said so herself. Most everyone was worried about what the blonde would say about the relationship between two since she had been in love with the colonel for many years. But it turned out that she was being very supportive. This was a good thing. If she hadn't been supportive, and tried to tear the two apart, or hurt Al in any way shape or form…well lets just say there would be no need for her to be cremated (she'd already be a pile of ashes).

Ed and James looked out on the valley from the top of the path leading into it. James was so happy he could barely suck air. He was finally coming home.

Chapter 4

James and Ed walked down into the valley. The 20 year old was getting more and more nervous with every step. What if they hated him? Or worse, what if they didn't even remember him? James almost felt like turning back. Ed saw the anxiousness on his boyfriend's face and gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. James looked up at his mate and smiled thankfully. Together they continued walking. Celia looked up from her work, as did Vesta and Marlin. All three of them stared on in amazement.

"James? Edward? Is that you!" Celia called.

James turned and nodded, looking at the kind woman he hadn't seen in so long. Her adopted mother and uncle greeted him. The trio hopped over the small fence barring their fields from the main path. James grinned widely as he was pulled into a tight hug. Vesta greeted Ed the same way, surprising the young alchemist greatly.

"James, your family will be so happy to see you…" Celia's eyes watered, "I just can't believe you're back…after so long."

Celia took James in her arms again. She kissed him on the forehead. James felt the anxiousness in him wash away, to be replaced by an almost euphorically happy feeling bubbling up in his stomach. He returned the embrace, before telling her they would visit later. Celia nodded.

"How do they know me?" Ed whispered in James's ear once they were out of earshot.

"My dad probably told them about you. Don't worry about it, the whole valley most likely knows who you are." James replied.

"You say that as if it's a good thing." Ed smirked.

"It is, if you're going to be living here, then that means I'll have to introduce you to less people." James commented.

The two laughed together as they rounded the bend and took their first step on Myishi farm. James's eyes widened, he could see a huge orchard near the dormitories that hadn't been there when he left. Not only that, but…was that the tool shed? It looked a lot bigger then he remembered? Holy Shit! The house, it was gargantuan compare to their old home! There must be three floors in it. As James started walking towards the house, a girl probably three years younger then he hurried past him.

"Sorry, excuse me!" She called over her shoulder.

"Who was that?" Ed asked.

"I don't know." James said quietly.

"Whatever, let's keep going."

James and Ed both stood at the front door of James's home now. The brunette raised a shaky hand and knocked on the door…

…Amelia was not having a good day. A whole bunch of store owners were coming to the farm today to pick up their shipments. Bessie and the herd had wandered off again before she had been able to put them in the milking room! There was a lot of work to be done, and she didn't have the time to be chasing cows around, damn it. The guys had sent her off to fetch them while they gave Little Billy his weekly bath. Washing Little Billy was a job that required six people, it required six TALL people that was for sure. Amelia was skidded around the tool shed and ran past two oncoming men. They were tall, and strangely familiar. _Probably some more store owners…oh well, I'll handle them when I get back._ Amelia thought, as she ran right past them. She accidentally brushed one of the store owner's shoulders as she passed them.

"Sorry, excuse me!" Amelia called over her shoulder at them, hoping they would think she was rude.

In mid stride she reached down and rolled up one cuff of her working overalls quickly. The teen really didn't want to trip over the hems of her work clothes. That would be bad. Her overalls were a faded black, and had once belonged to her Dad. They were so baggy that she had pulled the top of the overalls' down and used the straps as a belt to keep up the pants part. Amelia hadn't really thought about what she was wearing this morning, she had just pulled out random clothes from her dresser that didn't smell too bad. There was too many things to do to worry about what she was wearing. She had tugged on an old grey tummy shirt that she had bought a long time ago. The hem of the shirt came down to just two inches above her navel, and was now clinging to her sweat soaked body.

"Bessie! Where are you? You need to come back to the farm so I can get the milking done and over with! Then I promise you can go back to wandering the valley!" Amelia cupped her hands around her mouth to make her voice louder.

"Moo!" Bessie cried indignantly, as though Amelia was interrupting something very important.

The teen found the herd lounging in the warm autumn sun near the pyro-twins' house. They were all lying on their sides, ignoring her. Damn it! This was not the time for them to ignore her.

"I'll put barb wire on the fence if you don't come back right now!" Amelia cried.

Bessie looked strangely at her before sighing. The cow mooed something to the rest of the herd and began leading them back towards the farm. Amelia stood waiting for them at the edge of the Inner Inn. From there she grabbed hold of Bessie's collar and yanked her towards the farm. When they arrived, she didn't see the guys in the field, or the store owners anywhere. Surely they would have dealt with the store owners that she had seen on her way out, right? There was a lot of work to do, they couldn't just take a break! There was no time for breaks today! What did they think they were doing!

Amelia set the cows up in a line outside of the milking room, and began pushing them one by one inside. After they were done, the whole herd instantly hopped over the fence and walked off the farm again. Amelia sighed, crating up the milk and taking it into the storage room to be shipped. After that was done, she decided to go inside the house and ask Mom and Dad if they knew where the guys had gone.

Once inside, she heard lots of noise coming from the kitchen. The girl groaned and walked through the large comfortable living room to the swinging kitchen door. She pushed the door to the side and walked in, seeing all of the guys and her parental units surrounding something 'really exciting' at the table. Amelia groaned.

"What's so god damn exciting that everyone decided to take a break today when we all know how much work there is to be done? Am I the only one who cares about the work that goes on here? I mean, seriously, come on!" Amelia yelled.

"Amelia, is that how you respond when your 'long lost brother' finally comes home?" A tall man stood up and walked through the crowd of farm hands towards Amelia.

Amelia gasped, covering her mouth with her hands she took a step back. When she felt her back hit the wall, she didn't care. James stood before her. He was taller then her, by a good five inches, his hair was still as untamed as it had been before…

Amelia good feel tears leak out of her eyes. Why had he finally decided to come back now, huh! Why couldn't he have come back earlier? What's the reason for coming home after they were all doing just fine without him! He smiled at her weakly, trying to get her to say something. But Amelia didn't have anything to say to him. How could he come home and just expect everything to be okay between them! She ran from the room, and up the grand stair case in the middle of the living room. The teen could barely keep herself from collapsing on the stairs. Five minutes later, she had locked herself in her room. She shakily picked up her favorite Metallica CD and put it into her boom-box. Amelia grabbed the volume knob and turned it to full blast, hiding herself behind the music. She curled up in her bed, singing the song that was playing so loudly around her. This had always helped her in the past, when she would think she saw her brother walk onto the farm, only to realize that it hadn't been him…but just another store owner from the city...

…James watched his baby sister look at him with tears in her eyes, her hands over her mouth. He tried to smile at her, trying desperately to get her to say something. The man looked on as his baby sister shook her head, cried out and ran from the room. She left him standing there, and awkward silence filled the air. Everyone had expected Amelia to be the happiest about James's return. No one had thought she would react the way she had. A few minutes later, loud music pounded from upstairs.

James turned to face his family, "I don't blame her for hating me…"

"Oh James, she doesn't hate you. I'm sure she just wasn't expecting you to come home right now." Jack told his son gently.

James wanted to believe his Mother, but seeing the confusion, the sadness, and the hurt in his sister's eyes at the sight of him told a different story. He felt Ed come and wrap his arms around him. James sighed and turned around, returning the embrace. Ed turned them so that he was leaning against the wall, and James was leaning on him.

"It'll be alright…" Ed whispered, rubbing his back in a comforting fashion.

"James, are you two…?"

James's eyes shot open, he hadn't told them yet that he and Ed were a couple. The brunette swiftly turned around, but Ed didn't let him leave the embrace. Apparently the older male planned on embarrassing him in front of his family. Ed moved his hands lower on James's waist, resting them over his navel, letting his fingers play with the hem of James's jeans. James blushed furiously, noting the knowing look that his father gave him.

"Mom and Dad, Ed and I are a couple, and have been for a little over three months now. I would like to ask your permission to live here, with him…" James had trouble not blushing as Ed continued to do wonderful things to him with his hands.

Phage smirked and Jack scowled. James knew that his Mother didn't approve, but what his Father was thinking, he couldn't really tell.

"Well, son its fine with me, but if you two happen to do anything while you're here use protection and keep the noise down." Phage winked at his son.

James blushed even more at that statement. But then, something hit him, "Why would we need to use protection? Dad I'm…"

"Yes I'm aware you're a guy, but you have most likely inherited the ability that your Mother and I have: the ability to produce children. I'm just saying that if anything happens, I don't think you want to get pregnant right now." Phage explained.

James felt insulted. It was as if his Dad assumed that he was the submissive one in the relationship. Of course he **was** the submissive partner in the relationship, but he hated it when his Father acted like he knew everything. Ed moved his face behind his love's and began swirling his tongue over James's soft skin. The brunette withheld the moan he felt like making at the things Ed was doing to him. He knew that his growing pleasure at Ed's ministrations would become quite visible to his parents if he didn't do something soon. James grabbed his lover's hands and pried them off of him, taking a few steps forward. Ed whined loudly at him.

"Aww, you're no fun James! You are so in trouble later!" Ed told him.

That was it, James couldn't take the embarrassment anymore. His parents and his adopted brothers were all laughing at him. Ed was the one who was going to be in trouble. James left the room and stomped into the living room. He picked up a pillow off of the couch, shoved his face into it, and screamed at the top of his lungs. James didn't hear Ed sneak up on him. The taller male tackled him. James cried out as he was taken down onto the couch. Ed straddled him and firmly pressed his lips against James's. The brunette cried out, and with as much willpower as he could muster he shoved Ed off of him. Ed looked confused, and slightly disappointed with his mate. James ignored this and angrily stormed up the stairs, following his mother's directions he soon reached the room they had kept prepared for him. The angry male would have stayed angry if he had not suddenly opened the door to his room. What he saw confused and shocked him. The floor was covered in envelopes, heavy envelopes that were obviously filled with letters. You couldn't see the floor, because every inch of it was covered in letters, even his bed had several covering it. Three particularly thick envelopes sat on a tall dresser on one side of the room. James walked into the middle of the room and picked up one of the envelopes, he carefully turned it over in his hands. His name was one it, as well as the address that Ed had given James's parents ten years ago. The top left hand corner had Amelia's name on it, as well as their home address. James picked up another letter, and another…they all had the same names and addresses on them. The one thing that disgusted him the most about all of these envelopes, they all had the same signature and 'return to sender' mark on them. The signature was his, these were all letters that he had ignored and sent back to his sister without even reading them.

Hearing footsteps on the stairs, James's head shot up, with his eyes glued to the doorway. Ed soon came into view, his face held the same confused expression at the sight of all the letters.

"What are all of these?" Ed asked calmly.

James opened his mouth, but no words came out. He could still hear his sister's music blaring from a couple rooms down the hall. James hadn't remembered returning these letters…probably because they stopped coming when he had turned nineteen, and didn't bother to remember the letters at all. He had been so focused on reaching his goal that he hadn't bothered to answer any of his sister's letters. James had thought that he wouldn't ever return to the farm, so why would it matter? His hands shook as he opened one of the letters. It told him that she couldn't wait for him to come to home, the handwriting was that of an eight year old maybe nine year old. The letter told him that she had started helping Dad on the farm and that the new orchard was bringing in a lot of money. Mommy and Daddy were going to make a new house soon, one that would have really big rooms for all of them. James saw the ink blur as his tears hit the parchment. Ed didn't walk over to him and wrap his arms around his shoulders. He knew that it wouldn't help, and that there was no point. James picked up another letter, reading that one too. Hysterically he picked up one letter after the other, reading every single one that he picked up. Each one he finished reading he would set on the table near the center of the room, for some reason it had no envelopes sitting on them.

Ed watched James read every single letter on the floor, bed and dresser. The brunette stayed in that room for hours, reading all of the letters. Periodically he would break out in heart wrenching sobs. He finished reading them all at about one in the morning. After that Ed told him that he should probably get some sleep. But James refused, he ran down the stairs, only to return with boxes upon boxes of envelopes, and a lot of pens. Ed had a theory about what James was about to do, but couldn't bare to think about it. The idea was too sad, and too frightening to think about. Ed eventually left the room, there was nothing he could do for his mate.

Everyone had gone back to work, Ed had decided to help as well. Amelia and James remained locked up in their rooms, not coming out for anything. Much later, James put four large boxes full of letters in front of Amelia's door. He picked the lock on the door and opened it, before walking solemnly down the stairs…

…Amelia looked up suddenly as she saw her door open. She hadn't come out since she had locked herself in her room yesterday afternoon. It was now four in the afternoon the next day, and someone had opened her door. Amelia wondered how, she had locked it from top to bottom with all the of pad locks, key locks, and every thing that she could…but someone had opened it. Curious, the teenager walked over to the door and opened it all the way. She moved her feet as to take a step out, but stopped when her toe hit something. Amelia looked down and saw four large crates full of something…were those letters? She picked up one letter and saw her name on it, along with her address and everything, printed neatly in ink. Amelia looked at the return address and saw that it was James's Central City address…there was his signature in the top left corner. She was speechless, on every single envelope was a return to sender sticker awaiting her signature. Tears streamed down her face, with no sign of stopping anytime soon. Amelia opened the envelope in her hands, and read the letter. It told her about what James had been studying, it had a date and everything, but the handwriting was way to mature for the date at the top of the page. He had written these recently, probably the other night. Had he answered every letter? Amelia gasped. She couldn't believe that he had written a response to all those letters that she had sent him so long ago. The girl eagerly hauled the boxes into her room and started reading all of the letters.

Later, Amelia walked down the stairs and into the kitchen. Her family was sitting at the table: there was her Mom, Dad, and Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy. Then, there was the two members of that family that had finally come home: James and Edward. Amelia walked over to James, who was eyeing her wearily.

"I, uh…got your letters." Amelia looked down at the floor, shuffling her feet nervously.

James stood up and embraced her warmly, as though he had been with her every day of her life, he wrapped his arms around her as though he had never left. Amelia smiled, and hugged him back, burying her face in his chest. When they parted, James pulled out the chair next to his for her to sit down. Amelia sat down in the chair her brother proffered her and let him scoot her in. She looked around at the smiling faces of her family, her whole family. Amelia returned the smile.

"So Daddy, can I go on a date with Hugh this Friday?" Amelia asked.

Phage's grin instantly left, and Amelia laughed. The girl picked up a hot dog and took a bite without putting it in a hot dog bun or anything. She swallowed, smiling even more at her Mother.

"Amelia, we've already had this talk. You are NEVER dating!" Phage shouted.

Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, Timmy, James, and Ed all nodded in agreement. Amelia pleaded with her Mother for help. Jack nodded at his daughter, and whispered something in his husband's ear. Phage's face paled.

Jack smiled warmly at his daughter, glared at his sons before saying, "You can go on a date with Hugh this Friday Amelia."

All the boys at the table except for Jack started shouting and snarling in protest. Amelia grinned widely and threw a victorious fist in the air.

"Score!"

Chapter 5

Amelia had made up the thing about Hugh the other night just to lighten the mood. Now she really needed Hugh to go on a date with her otherwise her brothers would think the worst. They were already sharpening their battle axes and getting extra ammo for their rifles. Damn brothers…she hoped they wouldn't kill Hugh. If they found out that he hadn't really asked her out, then they would kill him because he hadn't thought she was good enough for him. This wasn't true. Amelia was aware that Hugh, Rock, and Gustafa were all in on a bet to see when she would give in to Hugh's wooing. The girl was in a bind. What should she do?

"Hugh…I have a problem." Amelia said nervously, approaching her friend Thursday afternoon.

"And what would that be?" Hugh smirked at her, "But more importantly, why should I care?"

"Because it involves you and your possible death in the immediate future." Amelia spoke clearly.

"Well, that _would_ be could reason for me to care. Now why am I going to die soon?" Hugh was barely paying attention, mostly because a lot of the conversations the two had had in the past involved these sorts of topics.

"I sorta told my family that you had asked me out on a date…and now my brothers want to kill you." Amelia said slowly.

Hugh looked up at her with shocked eyes, "You told them what! 'Melia, babe, I love you and all but I didn't ask you out. Why the hell did you tell them I asked you out!"

"I told them you asked me out to lighten the mood as a joke, but they all believed me and…well lets just say my brothers are all sharpening my battle axes right now."

"Great, this is just what I need to happen to me right now! If I left the valley and went into hiding how long do you think I'd have left to live?"

"Not very long."

"The easiest way for us to get this over with would to be to actually play along. Hugh, I'll tell you exactly what to do and what to say so that my brothers don't beat you into a bloody smear on the wall." Amelia told her friend.

"Are you sure?" Hugh looked like a frightened child who had just been convinced to go ghost hunting.

"I'm sure." Amelia said confidently.

Friday night, Amelia was not nearly as nervous as Hugh. She had told him what questions her brothers would most likely ask him, and what kind of answers they would like. Amelia had taught him how to act, what kind of things to say to her, and what things he should talk about at dinner. Hugh had politely asked Amelia within ear shot of Phage if he could meet her parents, because he had heard great things about Phage. Amelia's Dad immediately bought the conversation. Phage ended up talking to Hugh's Dad a few minutes later about having Hugh over on Friday night for dinner.

Amelia had dressed up, or at least to her, wearing a miniskirt a form fitting top and putting her hair up in a stylish bun was dressed up. She had highlighted her soft facial features with warm make-up. When she walked down the stairs into the living room where all of her brothers, father, and Hugh were waiting, Amelia almost groaned at their reaction. Hugh looked like he was gallantly fighting the urge to drool, while her Father smirked at her. The entire group of farm hands looked like they wanted to laugh and James was obviously in Sister Protection mode. Ed, looked like he could care less.

"Amelia, we have decided to postpone the execution of your boy toy!" Mark announced.

"Well that's a good thing!" Amelia replied, "That means that I won't have to set up the medieval torture device in the basement now, it's really bothersome to set up."

Mark sneered at her, "It seems that you have trained your boy well, he's too good to be true."

"Excuse me? I did not train Hugh at all! If anything I would have hoped you that you would execute him. I didn't say anything to him, I was all ready to watch you verbally pick him apart and he decides to be as unnervingly perfect around you as he is when he and I are alone together! That's not fair Hugh; I thought I told you to be atrocious!" Amelia retorted.

Hugh looked at her strangely before replying, "I could be atrocious, but that wouldn't be right. You could poison me, gas me, and stab me and I wouldn't be able to say a mean word to that beautiful face of yours."

Amelia withheld her shocked reaction at Hugh's words. She'd have to ask him about that line later, that one hadn't been apart of the script she'd prepared for him. Did he actually mean what he had said? Oh well, she'd find out later. Amelia smiled sweetly at him and put on a swooning face. Her family bought the act and Hugh winked at her.

The rest of the evening played out smoothly. When Hugh and Amelia stood together at the front door, they both knew that the Sister Protection team was watching. Hugh took her chin in his hand gently, and whispered something in her ear. When he drew back he smiled at her softly, before kissing both of her closed eyelids, her left cheek, and quickly on her lips. This was also not part of the script, but Amelia was enjoying it. Hugh drew her close into a warm embrace, and then he whispered a goodbye and walked off of the farm. Amelia walked back into the house and saw that her brothers and Father were both staring at her expectantly.

"What?" Amelia asked them.

"What do you say?" her brothers asked sternly.

"Thank you for not killing Hugh." She said politely, "Did he meet the requirements?"

"…" James glared at her stubbornly.

It wasn't until Ed elbowed him in the ribs that James announced the brother jury's verdict, "He's decent."

Amelia smiled at them, and then tackled James in a bone crushing hug, "Thank you big brother!"

James blushed, watching his baby sister run up the grand stair case to her room.

Chapter 6

Amelia had avoided Hugh after that night. Most girls would call her crazy. Hugh was extremely handsome, witty, charming…he was everything and Amelia had run for the hills at the possibility of going out with him for real. What was wrong with her? Amelia sighed, finishing her chores for the day she walked into the pasture where the girls were lying close together. It was getting closer to winter, and so the days that they were outside, the cows would lie close together in the grass to absorb each other's body heat. She walked over to Little Billy. The Clydesdale seemed to tower over everything on the farm. He was about as tall as the barn and as wide as the door. The family had to build a separate shelter for him, for when the winter months came. Sometimes Amelia felt bad for Little Billy; he had to be shut up in a single room all by himself when it snowed.

The teen spoke to the great horse softly, "Hi Little Billy, its time for me to take you out for your day's jaunt around the valley. I'm gonna have to ask you to kneel for me."

Little Billy looked down at her through one wispy chestnut forelock. His large sweet eyes gazed into hers. Amelia patted the loveable giant on the neck and waited while he knelt down on the ground. She then climbed onto his back and threw her arms around his neck. The girl tried not to scream when he stood and the ground suddenly seemed so far away. Little Billy easily stepped over the fence lining the pasture and trotted off of the farm. Amelia held on tight, guiding him towards the trail leading out of the valley. At a full gallop, they reached the trail in mere seconds. Once they almost reached the trail they looped around Vesta's farm and went up to the dig site. After this, they went back down along the river, over the bridge and down past the beach. This was their usual route. Little Billy automatically swept around the lab, around the blue bar and down to circle past Cody's trailer. Once the Clydesdale had looped around the trailer, he galloped up the hill with ease, soaring past the twin's hut. Billy horse shoes echoed on the cobblestone path with a resounding clatter. He reached the Villa and stopped in front of the large oak doors. Little Billy knelt down on the ground again for Amelia to get off. She patted the horse on neck and side. Then the teen told him that he could run anywhere he wanted in the valley as long as he was at home before sun set. Billy whinnied happily before swiftly running down the hill away from the villa.

"Amelia, I haven't seen you in ages!" Lumina cried, embracing her 'adopted niece' in the parlor.

"Yeah, I know. I'm really sorry about that. I would love to girl chat, but I need your help." Amelia said seriously.

"Well, Auntie Lumina is at your service! Let's go upstairs." The woman ran childishly up the grand stair case to her private room, Amelia hot on her trail.

When they had entered the large circular room, Lumina quickly closed and locked the door behind them. The room was large, and had a grand king sized bed in the middle of it piled high with lace comforters and fluffy pillows. The carpet was soft beneath Amelia's feet, and she once again admired the porcelain dolls in the glass case standing against the wall opposite her. Lumina sat on the bed, a can of whipped cream in hand, one large tub of Hagan daze (1), and two spoons that resembled nothing more than miniature shovels. Amelia climbed onto the bed and took a spoon, opening up the ice cream tub. The teen would have laughed at Lumina for the way she shot a dollop of whipped cream straight into her mouth if she had not done the same so many times before. Amelia was about to speak but Lumina stopped her.

The woman scooped a large spoonful of ice cream, held it close to her mouth and said, "Okay, go." (2)

"Well, the other night when I had dinner with the whole family for the first time you know…after…" Amelia started.

"James came home, right…keep going." Lumina filled in.

Amelia paused to fill her mouth with the luscious ice cream and indulge in its sweetness before continuing, "Everyone was acting so serious, I had to say something to lighten everyone up, you know like a joke."

"Right, of course." Lumina nodded, "Too much seriousness from too many people all at the same time is never a good thing."

"I asked my Dad if I could go on a date with Hugh on Friday night…as a joke but everyone believed me and took it seriously. My mom said yes, and my brothers got really into it, they were planning to kill him for even thinking of dating me. If I had told them it was just a joke, that Hugh never really asked me out, and then they would kill him because he HADN'T asked me out. It's like a horrible vicious cycle."

"Yeah, I can see how that would happen…but Amelia, really, Hugh! I mean, isn't he like your best friend since you liked to roll around in mud?" Lumina asked incredulously.

"Yeah, but that's why it was a joke. But anyway, I talked to Hugh about it and decided that the best way to get through this whole thing was just to play along. I trained Hugh up to say all the right things to my brothers and Dad, and he did okay. But he said some stuff that I hadn't prepared for him…" Amelia trailed off.

"He said stuff that wasn't in the script! Whoa, that means he either meant it, or was mad libbing. What did he say? Give me an example."

Amelia took a deep breath before mimicking Hugh, "I could be atrocious, but that wouldn't be right. You could poison me, gas me, and stab me and I wouldn't be able to say a mean word to that beautiful face of yours"

"Whoa, girl I think he's really into you." Lumina spoke earnestly to her niece.

"No! Not Hugh, he takes bets on whether or not I'll hit him on a certain day! He's…too…Hughish!" Amelia cried, shoveling as much ice cream into her mouth as possible.

"Okay…I can handle this, tell me…what happened at the end of the date? Did he kiss you good night? What did he do?" Lumina shot more whipped cream into her mouth after this question.

Amelia thought back onto how Hugh had said goodnight to her, and explained the romantic gestures in squealing girlish detail to her Auntie Lumina.

"Oh my gosh! That is so sickeningly sweet that it makes me sick!" Lumina squealed, at the same time shoveling ice cream into her mouth.

The two girls smiled at each other for a while, day dreaming. Amelia was the first to snap out of it.

"So, what do you think?" Amelia asked.

"Girl…he's head over heels for you." Lumina stated the following as a matter of fact not a possibility.

"But I don't like him…I think. What am I going to do?" Amelia asked.

"…" Lumina didn't say anything for a several minutes, a pondering look on her face.

Amelia could almost see the light bulb go on in her Aunt's head. Lumina bore her infamous evil genius expression and explained her thought pattern to Amelia.

"Play hard to get." Lumina said simply, "You dress up every day. Wear short skirts, the best, girliest tops that you can. Put your hair up, wear make up."

"Okay. Got it." Amelia replied.

"Tease him, do things you know will get him _excited_. Like bend over to tie your tennis shoes, instead of getting down on one knee. Accidentally drop an ice cube down you're shirt and then pull it out slowly." Lumina laughed at the possibilities.

"You're evil, you know that?" Amelia smirked.

"Trust me my dear, I know. I enjoy being evil." Lumina cackled maniacally, and then seconds later squirted an absurd amount of whipped cream into her mouth.

"Oh yeah, really evil." Amelia laughed.

The next day, Amelia put Lumina's plan into action. Hugh had more than once taken on a high pitched voice and claimed he had to go to the bathroom before running off. Lumina was right, this was a lot of fun. On one of the warmer autumn days, when they had been sitting down under the shade of one of the trees in the forest spring, Amelia dropped an ice cube down her shirt 'accidentally'. She had been about to put it in her mouth, when it slipped out of her grasp and down her low cut shirt. Amelia shivered at the sensation and slowly and tantalizingly pulled the ice out of her shirt. Her actions left a wet stripe up her cleavage. Hugh was blushing, and Amelia thought she heard a whimper escape him. The girl felt like laughing. She was having way too much fun. One day however, the tables were turned. It seemed that Hugh was smarter then Amelia gave him credit for.

Hugh had started to wear muscle shirts around her. When she came over to her house, and ask where they were going to hang out today, Hugh would whisper the place softly in her ear as though it were a secret. His breath would tickle her ear, and her neck…and Amelia would have to use all of her willpower to restrain the blush that had begun creeping onto her cheeks. _You can't lose. C'mon Amelia you're better than this. You're better then him, he's a boy._

It had been a month since Hugh had come over to her house for dinner. Amelia walked outside the first Saturday evening in December. She wore a long white dress, with a slanted hem. The dress was elegant and simple; it was a winter dress so it had long sleeves with bell cuffs. The whole dress was made out of thick comfortable cotton, all except the graceful silver hood. The hood was made of silver satin. Her sandy brown hair had turned into bright orange over the past few months. It looked a lot like her father's hair now, and made her exceptionally pale skin stand out even more. Amelia had the hood pull up over her head to protect her from the snow that was currently falling from the sky. She walked up the slight hill to the forest spring. Once there, she gazed solemnly at the rippling water surrounding the bottom of the waterfall. So many memories of her child hood took place in the secret caverns behind that waterfall.

It was chilly out that evening, after all it **was** snowing. She held her sleeves tightly around her hands, trying to hold in some of the warmth. Amelia looked up into the sky and savored the feeling of snowflakes falling on her lips, her nose, forehead, and cheeks. Her hood fell off of her head, revealing the girl's long orange hair. She tore her gaze away from the sky at the sound of footsteps. Tucking a rebellious strand of hair behind her ear, the girl looked towards the path. There stood a tall male, with copper orange hair. His lean form moved towards her calmly. As he got closer, Amelia saw that it was Hugh. He looked concerned.

"Amelia, you shouldn't be out here, especially in that dress. You could catch hypothermia." Hugh told her.

Amelia took a few steps towards him, "I wouldn't…if you would keep me warm."

Amelia pressed herself against him, willing him to wrap his arms around her. When he didn't, she looked up at him strangely. His gaze was cold, just as cold as the snow falling around them.

"What's wrong?" She asked curiously.

"Do you have any feelings for me at all? Am I just some puppet that you feeling like toying with? Do you enjoy playing with my emotions?" Hugh asked bitterly.

Amelia looked shocked, "Hugh…I-"

"Just stop it alright. I'm tired of acting like this around you, and playing this stupid game!" Hugh shouted.

No one was around to hear them, but Amelia still recoiled from the volume and tone of his voice. She took a few steps away from him, looking at the ground.

"I'm…I'm really sorry Hugh. I do have feelings for you, and I shouldn't have acted like I did. I didn't mean to…" Amelia mentally slapped herself when she felt her voice crack.

"Well good." Hugh said dead pan, "Because if you weren't sorry, and you didn't have feelings for me…well, that would have really sucked."

Amelia looked up at Hugh, whom now stood in front of her, smirking. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a long deep kiss. Amelia had waited too long to do this. Hugh wrapped his arms around her waist, and they stayed like that; locked up in that one moment…their own brief eternity (3).

**TBC… **

Sorry I don't remember how to spell that name. But that has to be my all time favorite kind of ice cream. This moment where Lumina and Amelia are talking reminds me of something I've done with my best friends. When we're watching a particular sad moment of an anime, or just having a girl talk we sit around this huge bucket of ice cream and all eat out of the same tub. It's fun.

(2)I have actually done this, which is why I used it in this chapter. It brought back some pretty funny memories.

(3)This was actually the title of one of my oldest fanfiction series. It had been a beyblade series and I had six extremely long fanfictions all planned out and ready to write…but then I hit one of my infamous inspiration droughts. When I got my inspiration back, the idea of writing the Brief Eternity Chronicles as a fanficiton series died. But every once in a while, I like to use 'brief eternity' as an expression in some of my other fanfictions.


	5. Chapter 5

Journey **HO!**

Chapter 1

Phage groaned as his back popped again. Being 50 really sucked, he decided. Man he was getting old. Two laughing ten year olds whizzed past him, both laughing maniacally. _I wonder what those two are up to…_

'_Trust me; you really don't want to know._'

_Are you sure about that Smithie?_

'_Yes, very sure_'

_Alright, just like my grandkids doing something they probably shouldn't be doing! Wow, there's something I never thought I'd be able to say…_

'_What? A sentence involving the words _my grandkids'

_Yeah, thinking back to 30 years ago, when I first showed up on the farm…I never would have thought that all of what has happened would happen. I mean look at everything that has come to pass over the last three decades._

'_You're right. For once._'

_Thanks Smithie, that makes me feel all _warm and fuzzy_ in side._

'_Well the warm and fuzzy statement would explain several of your medical problems over the years._'

_Shut up, I'm gonna go get some lunch._

Phage McDougall entered the large kitchen to see his ten year old grandchildren raiding the refrigerator. He groaned inwardly and shook his head. Silmarion was the taller of the two; she had long golden hair and golden eyes just like her father Edward Elric. The other girl was rather petite and had short blood red curls that barely reached past her shoulders. Her name was December, more so for her snow white skin then anything else. December had the same shocking blue eyes as her mother, and to Jack's horror, her vocabulary as well.

"Shit! Where did all the Jello go, Silly?" December exclaimed loudly.

"I don't know Dess, it's kinda hard to know about something that you weren't there for!" 'Silly' replied seriously.

"Now how are we going to pull off the prank? If there's no jello, what are we gonna use? I mean, we can't just make some right now, what if one of our parents walks in? They'll expect us to eat it, and I'm not in the mood for jello! I need it for the prank, not consumption!" 'Dess' whispered furiously, losing her previous volume.

"Well, maybe we'll just have to postpone this prank for now. We can come up with something different later." Silly sighed.

"I should hope so, because if you had carried out any pranks then I would be forced to tell your parents." Phage told the two girls laughingly.

Both turned towards him with wide eyes. They quickly ran out the second exit to the left of the refrigerator on the opposite side of the room from Phage. The old man smirked, and walked over to the still open refrigerator. He pulled out some jello that he had hid behind a large jar of baby spinach leaves.

Phage kicked the door closed with a sock covered foot and pulled a shovel like spoon out of one of the wooden drawers before heading towards the counter. He pulled up a barstool and sat. _I'm sooo mean…_he thought, scooping out some jello and shoving it into his mouth. _Hmm…_He thought, _Jello doesn't really have a flavor does it? I mean, usually it's referred to by color. _What kind of Jello do you want? _I think I'll have some red Jello!_ While Phage was thinking about Jello colors he hadn't noticed his daughter walk in.

Amelia, now a healthy age of 27 was even more elegant and beautiful then she had been before. Her body hadn't really changed, but her style had grown slightly modest since she had given birth to December. She wore a long eggplant colored dress that had a turtleneck collar. Her hair was now considerably longer and would have reached the floor if the woman hadn't put it up like she did every day. Her shoes were pointed suede high heel boots that went up past her knees. Amelia's style in makeup had grown much better as she had learned what colors accented her features better. She tapped her boot sternly and looked around the kitchen before her eyes settled on her father.

"Hey Dad have you seen December? I've been looking for her everywhere, and I told her yesterday that we needed to go shopping this afternoon." Amelia rested her elegant hands on her hips.

"Yep, she and Silly were planning a prank that involved Jello. I hid it behind the spinach so they didn't find it and gave up. When they saw that I had been in the kitchen the entire time they were discussing their plans over by the refrigerator, they disappeared through the other door. I don't know where they are now." Phage licked his spoon until it was free of Jello and returned the empty jar to its place behind the spinach.

"Dad, you know Mom doesn't like it when you put empty boxes and stuff back in the refrigerator." Amelia groaned sternly.

"I know, but he doesn't know that I've emptied _this_ jar." Phage winked at his daughter.

"Whatever, tell me if you happen to find Dess, alright?" Phage nodded, and Amelia left the kitchen.

Hugh stood in the pasture, brushing down the cows. They had needed it. It was summer time again, and so everyone was busy. Though, Phage had insisted that his son-in-law didn't have to help, Hugh had ended up cleaning the cows. He couldn't help it, everyone was working, so what was the fun of lounging around inside by yourself?

"So that's why your big toenail is missing on your right foot? Wow, I've been wondering for a while." Hugh looked over to Jimmy.

The man was smirking proudly. He and Steven had gotten married two years ago, after keeping their secret for so long. Hugh looked fondly at the couple; they really were cute together, even though they were polar opposites. He guessed that Jimmy was the light to Steven's dark. They just fit together somehow.

"Yeah, it's an amazing story really. Most people wouldn't think that the story of how someone lost a toenail would be all that interesting. But trust me, some of the people I've told end up getting really into the story. It's scary isn't it?" Jimmy laughed, he patted Jelly on the head and she grumbled at him in response.

The blonde male ignored her grumble and looked over to the orchard where Edward had just exploded for the third time that day.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO SHORT THAT THEY HAVE TO BE LOOKED AT THROUGH A MAGNIFYING GLASS TO ACTUALLY BE SEEN!"

Hugh covered his ears, "Man, he needs to get a control on his temper."

"1) you know that will never happen. 2) In actuality he isn't really short anymore. The guy is six foot one." Jimmy commented, looking over the golden haired tempest.

"Yeah, _scary_ isn't it?" Hugh glanced over at Jimmy.

Both of them broke out laughing, but continued on with their task.

"Ed calm down, he didn't actually go that far." James took the alchemist into his arms and kissed his forehead in the soothing way he inevitably practiced every single day.

"I know, but if I didn't explode like that, they would think I was sick or something." Ed replied in a whisper.a

"You're right, now let's keep going there is **a lot** of work to do." James released his mate.

Together they finished harvesting all the lemons they could from the tree they were working on and headed for the seed making room. Once they had unloaded they're burden, the two made sure that any completed seeds were crated up and labeled for the appropriate store. As they were about to head back out, the door to the room swung open.

"Daddy!" Silly ran into the room, and immediately latched onto Ed's now human left leg.

"Yessie!" He replied.

James smirked at the word. The couple had agreed to answer their daughter the same way she had talked to them. If she called them 'Daddy' or 'Mommy', then they would reply in the same baby tone. So far, it had worked in getting her to stop talking baby talk. But Silmarion still had her moments.

"Can we go to the movies today? Pleaaaaase!" Silly whined.

"No, we have a lot of work to do Silly." Ed answered.

"But that one movie, with that one guy is finally out!" She pleaded.

"Oh wow, can you be anymore descriptive?" Ed walked out the door, with Silly still clutching his leg.

Silly had wrapped her arms tightly around the appendage, and when it started to move, she wrapped her legs around it too. So now, Ed was walking back towards the orchard with a ten year old weight strapped to his left leg. Joy.

"Silly, we've been through this before, you can stay on my leg all day but I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing regardless. So you can just sit their if you want, but I'll make no guarantees that your Mother and I will randomly start making out in the middle of work." Ed told his daughter.

"EW!" She cried, jumping off of his leg in mid stride, the girl ran off towards the house.

"Nicely done, come up with that on the spot?" James asked, pulling more fruit off of a tree nearby.

"Well, the idea came into my head when she started clinging in the seed maker room. But the opportunity hadn't presented itself until now." Ed responded.

"Ah, I see said the blind man as he picked up his hammer and saw." James winked at his husband.

"Whatever."

Silly groaned, she couldn't find Dess anywhere. She walked down the spiral stair case from the room she shared with Dess in the attic. Her bare callused feet enjoyed the sensation of the soft carpet as she walked. Silly had a habit of going everywhere in the valley with no shoes. The girl despised shoes, and only wore them when she saw fit, which was close to never. She walked down the stair case outside her parents' rooms and past the living room into the den where she knew her Grandfather would be.

Sure enough when she entered the room her grandpa looked up from a book he had been reading near the fireplace, "Grandpa?"

"Yeah Silly? What's up?" He asked, setting down his book on the end table next to him.

"Where's Dess? I'm really bored, and I can't find her anywhere."

"Did you check that secret place you always run off to every day?" Phage queried.

"No, I haven't. Thanks Grandpa!" Silly was about to leave the room when her grandpa stopped her.

"Wait, I think your Aunt might have found her and taken her shopping. Supposedly they were going out sometime today?" Grandpa didn't look up from his book this time.

"Oh," Silly looked down at the floor disappointed, "I guess I'll just have to figure out something else to do. Maybe I could go hang out with Auntie Lumina!"

The small girl left the room and Phage smirked. The girl that had so long ago helped him remove weeds that had invaded the plot where Smithie now stood. How amazingly she had stood up to the task of becoming Amelia's, and now Silly's auntie. Phage truly adored Lumina, she was one of his closest friends, and he really appreciated her. From what he understood Lumina and Mark had started a few years ago. But when he tried to approach Mark about it, he wouldn't ignore him and quickly change the subject. Phage rubbed his temples with his rough hands. As he did so, he felt several of the knuckles in said hands pop and then let out a resounding creak. _C'mon, I'm not _that_ old!_

Silly walked into the gorgeous villa without knocking on the door. Ever since Romana and Sebastian had died, Lumina had been more lenient it would seem. The woman now owned the villa and everything in it. She had told Silly that anytime she wanted to come over, she needn't ask, or knock on the door. The small girl hurriedly leapt up the stairs and walked gingerly over to her Auntie's private bedchamber.

"Auntie Lumina! Are you home?" Silmarion called.

"Yes! Come in!" A cheerful voice replied from the other side of the door.

Silly smiled, opening the tall door with a grunt. She scurried inside and climbed up onto the bed, and into her Aunt's lap. The woman grinned at her little visitor, tucking a stray lock of hazel hair behind one ear. Silly adored her Aunt Lumina. The woman was always kind and welcomed her into the villa. Once, Silly had run away from home in the middle of the night after a fight with her parents, and Lumina had let her stay at the villa with her. The woman hadn't even made her go home until the next day.

"What is it that you wanted from me you cutie?" Lumina questioned playfully.

"Dess went into town with her mom today, and everybody else is working. So I have nobody to play with. I thought that I could come over to your house and we could do something together!" Silly explained.

"Is that your way of saying that I'm a last resort, huh? Because that's awfully rude you know!" Lumina pretended to be insulted.

"No!" Silly shouted, squealing with laughter as her Aunt tickled her.

"Well, what else are we going to do, if not have a tickle war?" Lumina asked.

"I don't know! But I don't want to have a tickle war!" Silly squealed.

The two ended up spending the afternoon reading books and painting each other's toe nails. Silly was no longer bored, and Lumina had a great time in the company of her 'great niece'. In actuality she was only 13 years older then her _great_ niece's mother. Lumina had decided on walking the girl home so that she would be home in time for dinner.

The two reached the farm at around 6:15. Lumina followed Silly into the house and through the living room into the kitchen. There was a whole crowd waiting for them. Now that James and Ed had come home, and Amelia had gotten married there was a substantial _crowd_ of people living on Myishi farm. This crowd included the following: Phage, Jack, James, Ed, Silly, Amelia, Hugh, Dess, Steven, Joey, Mark, Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy.

"Hello Lumina, would you care to join us for dinner?" Phage chirped.

_He's in a good mood today,_ Lumina thought. Her eyes lingered on Mark for a few seconds and she made up her mind. She wasn't ready to be around him yet. She couldn't take it.

"No thanks, I think I'll just go home, and cook myself some dinner thanks." Lumina gave Phage a meaningful half-smile.

Phage caught her message and told her, "Oh, okay."

Lumina was about to leave when Phage called to her, "Do you want me to come over later?"

Lumina paused and caught the real message Phage was giving her. _Are you okay?_ Lumina knew that he was worried, but he hid his concern around his family by acting casual. He didn't want Lumina to lose her privacy that she was so entitled to. Lumina nodded to him, and left. She hadn't wanted to tell Phage about what had happened between her and Mark, but she knew now that it was inevitable. Phage would probably want to kill Mark very slowly and cruelly, so Lumina would have to find a way to convince him not to. _That's going to be difficult, knowing Phage and knowing what Mark did…_Lumina thought, collapsing on her bed back at the villa.

Chapter 2

Lumina sat on her bed back at the villa, as expected she heard a quiet knock on her bedroom door. She knew that Phage would come over; he wanted to know what was upsetting her. He hated to see her so upset. Usually if everything had been fine, then she would have joined Phage and his family for dinner. Eating dinner at the McDougall household was always extremely enjoyable. You could sit at the table and not say anything, and everybody could be around you talking amongst them, and you would still be amused. The things they talked/argued/rambled about were highly entertaining. The room would be filled with activity even after the meal had finished, often the whole family would sit around the table talking for hours afterwards. It was quite relaxing, and even a complete stranger could feel at home caught up in the jovial crowd. But Lumina had turned that down that night, for a reason that she would only share with Phage, her closest and oldest friend.

"'Mina, tell me what's wrong." It was a statement of what the woman would do, not a question or a command but merely fact.

"You've heard that Mark and I dated for a while right?" Lumina looked up at her friend whom was still standing before her at the foot of her bed.

Phage's brow furrowed in confusion. The man came to sit cross legged in front of his friend on the king sized bed. His bare feet rested gratefully on the silk comforter. He looked at Lumina seriously, questioningly. Over the years, they had learned to communicate through looks and gestures. It only proved to the outside world even more how close these two beings were to each other.

"We…broke up." Lumina said softly.

Phage gave her another look, without saying a word.

"One night, I had just finished painting and I had planned on visiting Muffy. I hadn't seen her in so long, and she was one of my longest friends after all." The woman stared down at the bed, her fingers fiddling with the comforter, "I don't blame her, and we're still good friends after all."

"'Mina, what happened?" Phage whispered.

"I walked on them, in the middle of…" Lumina choked out a strangled sob, she couldn't finish her sentence, she just couldn't.

Phage's eyes darkened considerably. His hands gripped the comforter he was sitting on tightly. He looked up at Lumina and his glare only grew in ferocity at her next words.

"The next day I confronted him about it, and then we broke up…"

"Lumina, I'm going to take you into town tomorrow, just the two of us. I'm going to get this off your mind, and make you realize how amazing you are in every way. I'm sorry Mark couldn't see that. If you'll excuse me, there's someone I need to talk to." Phage told her.

He gathered his best friend into his arms, and held her close to him. Phage could feel her snuggle against him, sobbing hysterically. His anger flared and he couldn't wait to get home and take Mark to hell and back. No one, absolutely **no one** did something like that to Lumina and got away with it. Phage was so furious it took all of his will power not to leave Lumina right then and brutally maim Mark.

"Phage…" She rasped, the tears she cried leaving her voice weak, "Please don't hurt Mark. I know what he did was wrong, but he still doesn't deserve to be beaten. He's a good person; he's just made some mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes, right?"

Phage held Lumina even closer at her words. He immediately thought back to the night that James told them everything about what had happened while he was away, and what he had done and thought. If what James hadn't earned him a beating, then what Mark had done most definitely didn't make him deserving of one either. He pulled away from Lumina and gave her a promising look, he wouldn't beat Mark. That he could promise, but giving him a broken arm or nose, he couldn't.

"I'll be here tomorrow morning about ten, okay?" He asked, and when Lumina nodded with a grateful smile, Phage left.

"Mark, can I have a word with you?" Phage all but growled through clenched teeth.

The younger man looked at him curiously but nodded. The rest of the family looked confused but continued talking as the farm hand followed Phage out of the room. The older male led Mark out front of the house.

"I have a question for you." Again the same growling tone left throat.

"Alright, are you okay?" Mark asked.

"Better then you will be in a few minutes." Phage could see the fear on Mark's face as he continued, "Did Lumina mean anything to you? Was she just some fling? Well if she was, she certainly didn't think that about you!"

Mark's eyes widened as he received a brutal punch to the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Phage didn't strike him again, waiting for him to answer.

"I…I wasn't thinking, Muffy…" But before Mark could say anything more, Phage kicked him in the ribs.

"Muffy wasn't the start of this Mark, and you know it!" Phage screamed.

The family had walked outside, concerned about Mark and what was happening.

"Phage, stop this!" Jack called.

"He cheated on Lumina! This scum got her to fall in love with him, and then he goes and fucks another woman!" Phage shouted angrily, his voice dripping with venom.

"Control yourself, that doesn't mean that-"Jack stopped at the look that Phage gave him.

Phage kicked Mark again, sending the younger male a couple feet. Mark gasped, turning over he coughed blood up onto the ground. The sounds he made as he laid on the ground retching up more blood were disgusting. Phage seemed not to be affected by it, and Mark was in shock at Phage's words. _She was in love with me?_

"She never told me…" The first words that Mark had uttered since Phage had first punched him.

Everyone looked to Mark, their eyes filled with concern, though no one dared move towards him. December felt tears entering her eyes, and Silly quickly took hold of her cousin, turning her eyes away from the violence.

"Phage, stop! I told you not to hurt him!" Everyone turned at the sound of Lumina's sobbing voice.

Phage could feel himself go numb at the heart-wrenching tone that Lumina had used. He felt her rush past him to Mark's side. Mark raised his head enough to look at Phage fearfully. Lumina took Mark in her arms and kissed him deeply.

"Are you okay?" She asked him.

"I'm fine, and…Mina, I'm so, so sorry…I shouldn't have-"

"Shush now, it's alright." Lumina silenced him with soft words though the love in her eyes was enough of an answer.

Phage walked off of the farm, not really sure of what he was doing. He had no idea what led him to the beach at that point in time. Nor did he know what it was that lifted his gaze to the heavens. It was as if his subconscious thought he might find the answer there. Well, right now he was still clueless. Maybe he'd get it eventually. He had hurt Mark even though he had promised Lumina that he wouldn't. Phage was just as bad as Mark in the way they had both hurt Lumina. He hated himself at that moment, not only for hurting Lumina but for not listening to Jack and exposing his grandchildren to something like that. What would they think if they saw their grandpa hurting their uncle Mark? Phage sickened himself; he couldn't believe himself at that moment.

"It's an amazing night tonight, friend." A familiar voice spoke at Phage's side.

"Really?" Phage asked in disbelief.

Phage couldn't believe what he was hearing; it was almost as if he could hear Rock talking right next to him. He happened to know that was impossible, having been present at Rock's funeral just last year. The older man had died from a brain tumor, that had long since been developing, but no one had been aware of it. Then one day, he had a sever seizure that would have killed him had Hardy not walked into the bar at that particular moment. But no matter what any doctor did, they couldn't help Rock. The tumor had been growing for too long, without any medical attention. So the tumor was at a point that the best neurosurgeon in the world couldn't do anything even if he tried. But there was Rock standing right next to him, it would seem, because Phage was looking into those happy go lucky eyes at that exact moment.

"Shocked to see me?" Rock asked seriously.

"Why shouldn't I be?"

"You have every reason to be surprised, I am dead after all." Rock laughed, slapping his friend on the back.

Phage managed to calm himself down after a few long minutes and asked, "Well, why are you here?"

"I don't think I really know. But I think that you might, so why would I be here Phage?" Rock questioned, staring his friend straight in the eyes.

"I…I did something, friend. I've done something I shouldn't have." Phage looked down at the sand.

"Why don't you tell me about it, hmm?" Rock suggested.

Phage and the ghost of one of his best friends and counselor, and told him everything that had happened. When he finished his tale, Rock surveyed him for a while, not speaking at all.

Rock clapped his hands onto both of Phage's shoulders and looked him square in the eye then said in all seriousness, "That was really stupid, my friend."

Phage blinked stupidly at his friend for a moment. That wasn't what he had thought the ghost was going to say, and suddenly he glared at Rock.

"Thanks, I kinda already knew that, smart one." Phage growled.

"Oh," Rock had a blank look on his face for a moment and then he said, "Sorry."

"Thanks, that makes me feel better."

"The best thing you can do right now, is go back and apologize. If your family and Lumina won't forgive you at first, don't worry. Just apologize again tomorrow, wait for time to do that healing thing. Everything will work out. Look at the family you have, my friend, that's one pretty forgiving family if you catch my drift." Rock winked at his friend.

Phage nodded, grinning, "I'll do that. See you later?"

"I'm afraid not, my friend."

"Why not?" Phage asked despairingly.

"I only show up when you really need me, AKA when you screw up big time." Phage frowned at this but Rock continued anyway, "But I'm not inviting to you to screw up in the future just to see me, I'll be really ticked. You should try your best not to do something really stupid on a regular basis. Heaven's pretty, enjoyable if you get me."

Phage blushed, giving his friend a look that clearly asked if he was joking. Rock winked at him smirking, before he disappeared into the night breeze. The red-head sighed, looking up into the night sky. _Time to head home_, Phage thought. He stood and walked down the beach towards the path that would lead him back to the farm.

When he got home, he could see Jack sitting in the armchair facing the door. His mate had been waiting for him. The usually cheerful brunette was now shooting poison arrows at him all with one look of death. Phage grimaced, before approaching his love. At Jack's held up hand, Phage stopped. He waited for Jack to speak.

In a voice calmer then Phage had expected, his mate spoke, "What did you think you were doing?"

"Nothing, I had no excuse for my actions. I do not expect you to forgive me at this instance, but I am very sorry for not listening to you when I should have. Before you tell me, I know I will apologize to Lumina and Mark both. Neither of them deserved that, and I will tell them how sorry I am after I find them. I am going to talk to December and Silmarion tomorrow about what happened and explain to them everything that went on and apologize to them as well." Phage noticed Jack's shock at his words.

"How did you come up with that on your own, my irritating idiot?" Jack questioned threateningly.

"I didn't, I had help from a close friend."

"Oh, Phage…" Jack looked at him wistfully.

"Rock visited me and as soon as I had explained to him, he promptly told me and I quote, 'that was really stupid, my friend'." Phage saw Jack grin at this, "He helped me sort out things."

"Ah," Jack didn't say anything else, but he moved out of the room and down the hallway leading to their bedroom.

When Jack saw Phage move towards him, he said firmly, "Sit."

Phage wasn't about to ask why, but he did ask this, "The comforters are still in the hallway closet right?"

"Yup." That was all Phage heard his mate say before a door slamming was heard throughout the house.

The 50 year old groaned at the sound his back made when he stood. He made his way to the hallway where the two-door closet was located. Phage opened it to find a large stack of numerous comforters. He picked up his favorite and closed the closet doors before walking into the living room. It was a good thing that the living room couch was extremely comfortable; otherwise Phage would not have gotten any sleep that night.

Chapter 3

Phage so far, had been smacked at least four times that day. He would know because he had been counting, and all smacks had been rather painful. His face was very red by now, and the large handprint on his right cheek would most likely not fade for some time. Everyone in the valley had heard of what had happened, and to say the least, he was hated by everybody. Being hated by all the people that lived around you was not a good thing. Especially in the valley this was a bad thing, because then there was pretty much nowhere to hide from the disappointed glares. This was definitely a punishment that he deserved. No one was talking to him, and if they did it was clear that they were restraining themselves from saying harsh things. Phage doubted if they would be that harsh, after what he had done.

Just that morning, Mark had received a visit from Hardy, who quickly and efficiently assessed his vitals. It would appear that Mark had a broken rib that had pierced one of his organs and had caused internal bleeding. This would explain the blood that he kept coughing up so frequently. Phage, felt like crap, and was currently wallowing in self-pity in the pasture.

It was dangerous to linger on the farm, but Phage was fully prepared for any further slaps or angered remarks from anyone. Lumina was the only one whom had not smacked him or uttered hateful words. However, she had not spoken to him at all, or really looked at him. Clearly, she thought it would be best for the rest of the valley to settle down before she said anything. Phage was fine with that except for one thing: Mark's status had been marked as critical, and he might or might not survive. The farmer had quickly sent him to the best hospital he could, and ordered the best doctors that money could get. Phage had been afraid to visit the younger male; he doubted that he would want to see him.

It would seem that even the cows didn't like him at the moment, because unlike they usually did they were not circled around him; they were lying on the opposite side of the pasture from him. _Just great_, he thought, _even the cows hate me._ Phage had sincerely apologized to every single person of the valley including Mark and Lumina more than once but still everyone wasn't over what had happened. He often wondered if anyone would ever forgive him.

To save himself from cold looks and awkward silences Phage no longer attended family meals. He would quickly dart in and out of the kitchen to get small amounts of food when he was hungry and didn't sleep inside the house unless was absolutely necessary. No one seemed to mind this arrangement; in fact most of the family rather preferred it this way as did Phage. It was sad really that only a few days ago he had been loved and his presence had been enjoyed by people, now he wasn't loved and nor was his presence enjoyed or wanted. Phage had crossed a line, and if Mark didn't survive he doubted if anyone would forgive him.

At sunset, Phage decided it was probably time to find a comfortable spot on the ground to sleep. _If the family ever loves me again I think I'll sleep outside anyways_, thought Phage, _I've gotten used to sleeping under the stars…its nice. _Phage would have gotten to sleep very well if the sudden arrival of hysterical sobs hadn't woken him up. He rubbed his eyes and looked around blearily for the cause of the noise. Phage soon found that it was Lumina who was crying so loudly. She was wearing all black, as was the rest of the family standing around her. What was going on? What had happened that was making Lumina cry so much? Why the hell was everyone wearing black? Phage stood up and walked cautiously towards his family. When he was a couple feet away from them he stopped.

"What happened?" Phage asked.

"Mark's funeral was today." Steven said calmly.

"His…funeral! Mark died and nobody told me!" Phage spluttered, gazing wildly around at his family…he couldn't believe them.

Phage hadn't been at the funeral, or even known that Mark had died. No one had told him. Even though Phage was on the farm every day, he was right in plain sight and quiet easy to reach, no one had bothered to tell him? What the hell? He took a few steps back; Mark had died because of him? Tears pressed against his closed eyelids. His hands curled into angry fists. Blindly he ran off of the farm…he had killed someone. Not only had he killed 'someone' but a member of his own family. What kind of cruel and unusual punishment was this?

The thought of suicide crossed his mind but he immediately threw it out. Suicide was out of the option, sure everyone probably hated him but that was no reason to go and kill himself was it? No it wasn't. He sighed, and put his face in his hands. Quiet sobs racked his frame as he fell to his knees. This time, there was no ghost comforting him or giving him advice, there was just the cruel cold wind washing over him. There were no reassuring words from Smithie entering his mind; no one came after him because he wasn't worth chasing after. Phage was still in slight shock that all of this had happened. What was wrong with him? Why hadn't he just screamed at Mark for a while instead of handing him to death? Why the fuck couldn't he keep his temper in check? Phage hadn't noticed the full moon pulling the tide over him. He continued to kneel there crying over his stupidity and the death of Mark. When the first wave touched his knees, he looked up. He didn't want to move, why not let the tide take him? Who would care?

When the water lapped at the hem of his shirt he came to his senses and leaped out of the rising water. Phage hurried up the shore and landed in the soft grass. He had almost done what Amelia had done twenty years ago. The man had almost let himself be taken by the rising waves.

Grudgingly he walked back towards the farm, his jeans soaked through with sea water. Phage didn't want to go home, after all the ground in the turtle swamp was much softer and more comfortable. But oh well, he guessed he would have to go back sometime. The red head took in his surroundings with a neutral face. His eyes must've looked glazed over for he no longer cared about what was happening around him. Phage hadn't really realized that he had walked into the house, or into the kitchen for that matter.

He walked with hunched shoulders towards the fridge where he pulled out a single bottle of milk and one carrot. Phage turned and had almost reached the door when a soft voice stopped him.

"Phage, why don't you eat with us tonight?" Lumina invited.

"As long as everyone promises not to glare at me I'll eat with you." Phage replied tonelessly.

Silly and Dess looked down at the table guiltily, as did some of the other farm hands. It appeared that they all were feeling bad about having shut him out the past several days. That made him feel slightly better.

"We promise." Jack told him.

Phage put on a fake smile and took his usual seat at the table and set down his milk and carrot. He then started serving everyone like it was just any other night at dinner. Then, Phage served himself and started shoveling food into his mouth like there was no tomorrow. He hadn't eaten this kind of food since before he had done what he had done to Mark. Phage hadn't even noticed that no one around him was eating, he just continued on with his plate. When he had finished what he had served himself, then he gobbled up the carrot he had taken out of the fridge and guzzled the bottled milk he had also taken.

Phage leaned back in his chair, sighing in contentment. There was no growl of a still mostly empty stomach following his dinner tonight. The man looked around at his family and saw that no one was eating.

"What's wrong with you guys? I mean, you're all staring at your food like it's gonna do tricks!" Phage exclaimed.

"Phage, Honey, can I talk to you in the other room for a minute?" Jack asked him calmly.

"Sure." Phage followed his husband out of the kitchen, through the living room, and into their bedroom.

It had been a while since Phage had been in his and Jack's bedroom.

"What is it?" Phage asked.

"How can you be so cheerful after what we put you through?" Jack choked out.

"Easy." Phage told him, "Like this!"

Then, Phage gave his mate a large grin that he now meant. Jack laughed at the comment but still didn't feel all that reassured.

"Okay, I don't really know about your feelings, brunette babe, but _I_ still love you." Phage said casually.

Right now Phage was still a little uncertain about the rest of his family acting so suddenly ashamed of their actions, but he knew for certain that he still loved all them. He stood up and wrapped Jack up in his arms. Jack returned the embrace, crying against Phage's chest. They stayed like that for a long time, if time even existed at the moment. Neither was really sure if reality would be there waiting for them or not. If it was, then whatever, if not then….WOOT! Phage pulled Jack away from him and pulled the brunette's lips to his. Phage kissed his mate long and hard, attempting to wash away all of his husbands anguish and pain with that one kiss. Jack sighed and no longer looked despaired but did not look happy. Phage hated to see his mate like this. He thought for a moment then picked up Jack and carried him to the bed.

Pulling out Jack's favorite lotion Phage set to work on massaging his feet, then back, then chest and shoulders. Every once in a while he would take a break from the massaging and kiss Jack deeply and gently. At the sign of Phage's mate calming down, he paused in his ministrations and spoke softly:

"I'll go tell the rest of the family that we're going to bed now and that they should leave us alone for the rest of the evening."

Jack caught Phage's subtle suggestion and smiled. The red head left the room and Jack felt happy for the first time in several days. His worries were forgotten and so it appeared, were Phage's. Soon his lover reentered the room with a mischievous look flaunting itself on his lips…lips that not too long ago were on his skin and…

Jack gasped as Phage teased him and did wonderfully awful things with his tongue. Bliss overtook his mind and he no longer was thinking rationally, or remembering to restrain his vocal cords. Hopefully his grandchildren didn't hear anything…

…James and Edward were currently staring at the door, wondering what to do. James wanted to go downstairs, walk into his parents' room and transmute the walls, floor, door, and ceiling into soundproof material. But James couldn't, just the _thought_ of his parents…well, er…doing it made him want to throw up. It wasn't long before another moan could be heard from downstairs.

"That's it, I'm going to go make them shut up!" Ed announced, to many grateful grunts echoing through the walls around them and from above them in the attic.

James said quietly, "Edward, we should just try and sleep, don't go down there…"

"Love, don't stop me, with their catcalls there is no way I will never sleep." Ed told his mate.

James shuddered and let his husband leave their bed and their room. He had experience with an extremely sleep deprived Ed before. It **wasn't** pretty. Damn it, Ed without sleep was just plain frightening! Ten minutes later the moans of ecstasy had stopped, and Ed walked back into the room. His left eye was twitching violently.

Cheers and thankful applause surrounded them as Ed replied, "It was scary, they didn't stop shagging even when I walked in and transmuted the whole room and their bathroom soundproof! The array was loud and colorful and they were STILL going at it!"

James's face turned a shocking green and Ed commented, "Yeah, the array looked about the same color your face is right now actually."

Ed's reward for that statement was a vomit coated chest.

Three days later, all was forgiven, though the 'Mark' subject was still a touchy one. Lumina and Phage had gone into town, finally just as Phage had promised Lumina was treated like a princess. The woman had been given a full makeover, been treated to the best hair, nail, and makeup salons and came home even more gorgeous then when she had left that morning. It was too bad that Mark wasn't around to see it.

Business kept going as well as usual. The valley had finally calmed down, and according to the letters that Ed was getting, Al and his boyfriend would be visiting soon with VERY good news. Phage definitely wanted to know what that good news was, but Ed didn't have a clue what was going on. Jack didn't care about any news, he was just happy to get to see Al again. There was one thing that Phage did know for sure, and that was that Ed definitely did NOT like Al's boyfriend whoever it was.

Now that things were getting back to normal Phage suddenly wondered what he was going to do with all the money the farm was making. Unknown to his family, Phage had close to half a billion dollars in the bank that hadn't been used or put aside for anything. The farmer's family knew there was a substantial amount of money in the bank, but they had always figured that it was there incase of an emergency (AKA Mark's medical needs) but had no idea how much money there really was. Phage sighed, he'd tell them eventually, but right now, it was strictly on a need-to-know basis. His family didn't need to know, so they didn't. After all, what could happen?

Chapter 4

Roy Mustang was not a happy alchemist. His beloved boyfriend Al Elric had decided it was time that he met 'the family'. Why couldn't Roy just stay in central while Al went and did what ever it was he did with his family? The flame alchemist was making small sparks with his special ignition gloves, trying to show his mate the immense irritation he was feeling.

"Why are we visiting them again?" Roy asked annoyed, "I mean, couldn't you just take Hughes? After you brought him back to life, I would have thought that you would bring him to see Ed first before me."

"I was thinking about it, but I want you to meet your future niece, and your new family. I mean, we are getting married in December aren't we?" Al looked back at him smirking.

"As far as I know." Roy replied, smirking right back at his fiancé.

"Right. We're going to tell Ed the good news that is Hughes' return to the world of the living. And you're going to meet Mother Hen!" Al exclaimed happily.

"Mother Hen?" Roy asked.

"Yeah, he is really cool. He's Ed's mother in-law." Al explained casually.

Roy ignored Al's previous statement as he was shoved rather unceremoniously onto the farm. The flame alchemist looked around and was caught off guard by a happy cow bounding up to him. His gloved hand at the ready, Roy was fully prepared to snap his fingers and turn this cow into roast beef. Suddenly, something entirely unpleasant and unexpected happened. The Fuhrer Mustang was being licked by a cow.

Loud fits of laughter rung from the general vicinity of the pasture. There stood Ed and James, both of whom were laughing hysterically at the man's severe misfortune. It would seem that Bessie had found a new victim. The old cow had given up hope on Phage, but now she had a lovely new human to enjoy.

The mere thought of Roy Mustang, the flame alchemist on a farm was funny. The actual sight of him on a farm, and being licked by a cow no less was a guaranteed knee-slapper. Roy however did not think this was funny at all. He threateningly snapped his fingers at the cow, a large flame brushed past her ear. Bessie snorted indignantly and stomped the raven haired man on the foot.

Al smartly restrained himself from laughing, and ushered his mate towards the house. Before they could reach their destination however, another attack was launched at the poor Fuhrer. A giggling blonde blob that vaguely resembled a chibi-Ed latched onto Roy's leg. Everyone gasped, waiting for Roy's reaction. At first he didn't do anything but take long deep breaths. Then, he calmly looked down at the creature that had attached itself onto him.

"Who might you be?" Roy asked through gritted teeth. It was evident that it was taking all of his will-power not to drop kick the little girl to the other side of the valley.

"Hiya Uncle Roy!" At this statement the silence wrapped around the entire farm grew thicker.

Roy's left eye twitched as he responded, "Hello….?"

"Silmarion, Silly for short." She answered him.

"Right, now Silly, would you mind letting go of my leg?" It was clearly a command, not a question.

Silly, by instinct realized that Roy was NOT someone that she wanted to mess with. She instantly let go of him, before smiling brightly up at the man.

"Come on, Grandma will want to meet you!" She replied happily, turning to look at Al she squealed, "Uncle Al!"

Al picked up his niece and swung her around, relaxing her onto his hip as they entered the large house. Roy observed the structure and realized that for a family farm, it must be a very rich one. This house was very solidly built and he recognized the architectural work to be the same that had worked on the Fuhrer's previous home. That kind of professionalism did not come cheaply. The building was basically square in shape but soared into the sky, it could easily have three or more floors. It was clearly the largest structure in the valley. There was a tall tower at the far end of the building, and Roy immediately assumed that was the attic. The house was a rich blue color, which was accented by a royal white trim; the roof was a slate grey.

Roy admired the craftsmanship of the inside, and the warm decoration and atmosphere of all the rooms that he passed. It was a good thing that the house was large; after all there were three generations of the family living in there. As he entered the kitchen his first thought was it was very big, just like the rest of the rooms in the house. There was a long granite counter with many comfortable looking barstools sitting underneath. On the other side of the counter was top of the line appliances and cooking wear. The walls were an eggshell ivory color, all except for one which bore a simple yet elegant mural. The mural portrayed a large orchard much like the one on the farm, and if you looked closely you could see children playing in the trees and on the ground eating fruits of a large variety. A good sized worn wooden table took up a considerable part of the room, and could easily seat at least twenty people.

Currently bustling around the kitchen was a man with wild brown hair that looked very much like James's. His features were feminine and soft, and he looked very much like the happiest man in the world. He looked quite at ease preparing a miniature feast, his relaxed blue eyes suddenly snapped up as they entered the room.

"Al, have you gotten taller since I last saw you? I think you have! Come give me a hug!" The brunette man abandoned his place at the stove and embraced Al tightly.

Al returned the hug just as tightly and laughed, "No, I haven't gotten taller don't worry."

"Oh, is this that boyfriend you keep writing about?" Jack looked at Roy, before giving Al a suggestive wink.

Al blushed but nodded, "Mother Hen, this is Roy Mustang, Roy-chan this is Jack."

"Nice to meet you Jack, I assure you I'm taking good care of Alphonse." Roy bowed kindly to Jack and took his hand, raising it to his lips for a soft kiss.

Jack gave Al a meaningfully look. It was clear that Roy was earning a lot of brownie points. Suddenly the clock chimed noon and a rushing sound of footsteps could be heard. A herd of hungry people rushed into the kitchen and took as seat at the table. Roy observed them all laughing and romping around. A cheerful bunch, the group was avidly discussing the day's work so far. Al led Roy to the table and sat down next to Ed and James. The farm hands looked over to Roy, and watched him for a moment. Then quite unexpectedly they pulled him into their conversation as if he had lived on the farm his whole life.

Al grinned as Roy participated in the conversation in as dignified voice as he could. Soon the younger alchemist looked over at Mother Hen and spoke, "Hey Mother Hen!"

"Yes Al?" He answered.

"Roy and I are going to stay around the farm for a couple of days and help out, that wouldn't be a bother would it?" Al asked.

"No of course not! Al you're never a bother and you know that your boyfriend is always welcome here." Jack grinned.

"So Al, what's this good news you were talking about?" Phage McDougall asked curiously.

"Yeah Al, what's up?" Ed asked.

Soon everyone halted their conversations to look at Al and his boyfriend expectantly.

"Well, I revived Major Hughes." Al said finally, he held his breath waiting for everyone's reaction.

"You, successfully brought him back? His soul is attached and everything?" Ed questioned excitedly, gripping his fork.

"Yup."

For a moment there was utter silence. That, however, didn't last long. The room erupted in loud cheers and excited chatter. Ed was so happy he had no idea what to do except to sit there and stare at his salad.

"You should bring him to the farm sometime!" Jack exclaimed merrily.

"Yeah, what Mother Hen said!" Matt shouted.

"I have some other good news as well." Al waited for everyone to settle down.

"Roy and I, are engaged. We're going to be married in December." Al spoke nervously.

"No!" Ed cried, slamming his head down on the table, "I refuse to even acknowledge that thing as a brother in-law. I won't let you marry him!"

"Nii-san!" Al shouted, "You don't control my life! I thought you'd be happy for me!"

"Al! You know how much I hate Mustang! I've loathed him for years, I've tried to tolerate the concept of you two going out, but you two getting married I won't accept!" Ed shouted, he pounded his fist on the table.

At Ed's words, Roy looked down at the table silently. He had always assumed that Edward didn't actually loathe him, there was some sort of respect for him somewhere inside the small blonde head somewhere. But that wasn't true. Roy wanted to do nothing more than leave the room, the farm and go back to Central City. There he could distract him by leafing through paperwork, and dealing with his duties as Fuhrer. But he needed to be there for Al, he couldn't leave his mate with this kind of a situation. So, Roy sat there, not saying a word as he absorbed the conversation.

"Nii-san, you said that you were over that! You said that you didn't care if I went out with him as long as I was happy. You never meant that at all did you!" Al was screaming now, everyone else was silent as they shifted awkwardly in their seats.

"I did, until you mentioned the possibility of marriage, to that…that thing!" Ed screamed back.

"His name is Roy Mustang, not 'thing' he is my fiancé and we are going to get married whether you _allow_ it or not!" Al was positively fuming.

After that comment, Al stormed out of the kitchen and then, up the stairs. Roy didn't look at anyone or say anything as he too left the room, probably in search of his mate. The whole kitchen was silent, everyone was glaring at Ed.

"How dare you be so mean to Al? That man, Roy was nothing but kind to me when he introduced himself earlier. What has he ever done to you?" Jack asked angrily.

"He's made my life miserable ever since I became a State Alchemist! He's rude, and sarcastic and-"

"-and he makes Al happy!" Jack finished, "I can't believe you Edward!"

Silly looked curiously up at her father, "Dad, what's a State Alchemist? Since when have you been one?"

Ed's eyes turned from anger to shock as he looked down at his daughter. He didn't say anything, and quickly hurried out of the house. The rest of the family continued the meal, but it was not a cheerful or relaxed one anymore. A hushed silence hung over the room like a thick blanket, and no one spoke to each other as they ate. Silmarion, was pondering her father's words. Why had he never told her about being a _State Alchemist_? What did it mean to be one, anyway?

Ed was angry. He was angry at himself, and Al. Why the hell did Al and Roy want to get married anyway? Why weren't they perfectly fine with just dating? It was bad enough that they got along so well! Not only that; but Ed mentioned being a State Alchemist in front of Silly. That was something he had never planned on doing. He and James had agreed shortly after Silly was born, not to speak of Ed's past and his involvement in the military. They didn't want their daughter to know about the things that had happened. Really, it was in Silmarion's best interest if she didn't know anything. But now, she would be confused and upset if he didn't explain everything to her. Silly didn't like it when people kept things from her, especially if they were things that she had every right to know.

Sighing wearily, Ed ran his hand through his long blonde bangs. His hair had gotten much longer. The braid that he always wore it in was down to the backs of his knees. His bangs were down past his shoulders. When he had sent a picture of himself to Al a couple of months ago, his little brother said he looked a lot like Winry. Winry used to be Ed's auto-mail mechanic, but now that he had his right arm and his left leg back he didn't need auto-mail anymore. So he hardly ever spoke to Winry, and if he did he soon regretted it, because she would usually scream at him for not writing to her for so long. Now he simply didn't write to her, so the whole screaming match could be avoided.

Ed looked up at the now setting sun; he had spent the rest of the day sitting in the forest spring. His stomach growled at him, telling him that if he didn't supply it with food soon, there would most definitely be trouble. So, the alchemist stood up and wandered back to the farm. From the path he could see Silly standing in the middle of the pasture patting Bessie on the head gently. She was obviously thinking. Ed could tell by the way her eyes looked glazed over, and she was nibbling on her bottom lip. Her non busy hand was clenched into a tight fist (a sign that she was thinking about something serious). Ed walked down to the pasture and hopped over the fence. Silly looked up at him and then opened her mouth to speak. Ed beat her to it.

"It was in your best interest for us not to tell you, Silmarion." Edward said calmly.

"What is a State Alchemist, Dad? Why are you one? What do you have to do if you are one? How long have you been a State Alchemist?" Silly was spitting out questions so fast that Ed could barely come up with one.

"An alchemist who serves the state, because I passed the qualification exam, I must carry out all the missions that the military assigns me and if a war breaks out I will be pressed into service, and since I was twelve." Ed answered each question with the same calm air, one hand in the pocket of his usual leather pants.

"Dad, what's that?" Silly asked, pointing to the silver chain poking out of Ed's pocket.

"The silver watch that I received when I first became a State Alchemist, it amplifies the power of an alchemist and is proof that I am a State Alchemist." Ed pulled the pocket watch out for his daughter to see.

Silly took it in her hands and rubbed a thumb over the large hand carved lion emblazoned on the front. She looked up at her father questioningly, it was obvious that she wanted to know more, but she simply gave back the watch.

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Ed asked her.

"Yes…thanks for telling me." Silly ran back towards the house.

"I see that you hadn't told your daughter about your being a State Alchemist. Why not Full Metal?" A familiar and unnerving voice spoke up from behind him.

"That's none of your business Fuhrer Mustang." Ed did not turn around to face the other man.

"I would think it could be, considering she will soon be my niece." Ed did not respond to that comment, and marched firmly in the direction of the house.

"Is pride the only thing keeping you from giving your approval of Al's decision? Or do you honestly hate me so much that you think I will defile your precious little brother?" Ed was staring at the ground with his teeth and hands clenched.

"Al thought that you would be happy for us, you should have seen him on the way here. He looked as happy as a tree full of monkeys on nitrous oxide. Al was so looking forward to telling you, and then you screamed at him. Is that really how you are supposed to treat one's brother?" Roy queried, coming to stand in front of Ed now.

Edward looked furiously up at his superior, "Excuse me, I'm expected at the dinner table."

"Judging by your performance earlier, I would supremely doubt that you'd be missed." Roy commented as Ed passed him by.

"Shut up!" Ed shouted, "Shut up! Shut up, shut up!"

"Now is that any way to talk to your commanding officer, Full Metal?" Roy mockingly asked.

Ed was screaming, and raging in his mind. He had a wonderful vision of beating Roy to a bloody pulp, and Al cheering him on, but knew that that was all it would be: a wish, vision, and a dream. Everything about the man was condescending, arrogant, sarcastic, and rude. Ed hated Roy so much it hurt; he wanted nothing more then to punch him. But it was Ed's love for his little brother that kept him from doing anything to Roy. He knew that if Al ever found out that Roy had lost an eye, leg, or even received a mere bruise from Ed then Al would be frighteningly angry.

"Stop calling me that, as you can see I don't have a metal arm or leg anymore." Ed said quietly, his whole body shaking with anger.

After that, Ed turned and walked towards the house. He entered and did not head for the kitchen but up the stairs towards Al's room. Jack had set one up for him several years ago upon his first visit. Ed held his hand up to knock on the door, and then thought better of it. He knew where his brother would be. Ed leaped down the stairs and hurried out of the house.

Sure enough, Ed found his brother sitting a ways down the river in the midst of a field of Happy Lamps. Al's spiky hair was being ruffled by a summer's night breeze. His skin was as pale as ever and his grey eyes were a cross between disappointment and anger. If that wasn't enough, there was a big neon sign above his head that said 'Hi, my name is Al and if you talk to me I'll bite your head off!'

Ed sighed and came to stand behind Al, not saying a word. The younger male shifted as to let Ed sit down next to him without damaging the flowers. Ed did so, and waited for his brother to say something. It was a while, probably a good ten minutes before Al began to speak.

"Why?" In that single word were many questions that Ed really didn't want to answer, but knew he would have to anyway.

"Al…"

"Tell me."

"I just don't want to admit that he might be a decent person…I guess. After all those years of him insulting me, giving me horrible missions, and all around making me miserable…I guess I just didn't want to acknowledge him as a person worthy of you. It bugged me that he could make you so happy, and then turn around and make me so angry. You know a little while ago he was egging me on again." Ed didn't look over at Al but knew that he was looking at him.

"You shouldn't let him get to you so much, part of the reason why him and I get along so well is because I don't let his sarcasm get to me. After a while, he gave up on trying getting a reaction out of me, and was actually, well, nice." Al finished, wrapping his arms tightly around his knees.

"Yeah, but you're cute and cuddly. Just one of your 'innocent little kitten' looks, and you could have the whole world under your control!" Al looked sheepishly at the ground at that statement.

"It's true; you could give Bambi a run for his money!" Al only blushed even more when Ed said this.

"Still, I guess I have to approve of it. If I don't, the family will never let me live it down. But just so you know, I'm not happy about it, but I'll accept it." Ed sighed.

Al's face broke out into the happiest smile Ed had ever seen, "You mean it?"

"Yes…" Ed groaned.

Al threw his arms around his brother and squealed cutely in pure bliss, "Thank you Nii-san!"

"Whatever."

Together they headed back to the farm.

Meanwhile, Silly was sitting in the den looking through the history books. She was trying to find her father's name in the military records. Sure enough, she found it. Edward Elric, the Full Metal Alchemist, pg. 247. _The Full Metal Alchemist? What kind of a name is that? He has a whole chapter dedicated to him? Oh my god…_

Chapter 5

Silly was very afraid. It had been a while since the truth of her father's past had been revealed to her. Al and Roy had been married for about six months now, and Silly now knew from experience that a pregnant Al was extremely frightening. What was worse was that Al, James, and Amelia were all pregnant at the same time. Not only that, but they were all pretty close to the amount of time they had been pregnant, so they were all experiencing the same symptoms at the same time. Al, James, and Amelia were all currently going through mood swings like there was no tomorrow. Just the thought of such a thing could give anyone the creeps, but being their and experiencing the horror was the cause of many, many nightmares.

Silly walked along the one corridor in the large house that pretty much everyone seemed to avoid. It was a good thing, because it had become Silly's hiding place during what she liked to call 'the dark ages'. She turned to a two-panel sliding closet door. Anyone would have thought that it was merely a hall closet, probably with blankets or coats inside. In actuality, when opened, the sliding closet door would reveal a set of stairs that led to the other attic, on the far end of the house. The now eleven year old girl climbed up a few stairs and then closed the door behind her. Darkness enveloped her at the closing of the door, but she had climbed the stairs so many times that she needn't use any light. Silly crawled up the stairs on all fours, just like she had since she was very little. It was odd really that she was the only one to have found this part of the house and used it. Her parents and her grandparents had never mentioned it, nor when she had been there had they ever walked in.

The relieved eleven years old quickly climbed the stairs and ended up in a brightly colored room with comfortable furnishings. Several tall book shelves lined the walls, each one crammed full of thick books. In the center of the room was a cold metal desk, cabinets were the support for it instead of legs. Silly hadn't dared to open the cabinets, and in truth even if she had tried (not saying that she ever had) all of the drawers were locked.

As soon as she had entered the room she had locked the door behind her. When she had first entered the room, playing hide and seek with December, she had spent quite a deal of time admiring the door. It wasn't really all that admirable, or so it would seem to most people. But to Silly it was an amazing piece of work. It looked quite like this:

It was tall and made entirely of metal, and there were many cracks and dents in it. The door knob was wooden, and there were many notches and odd symbols carved into. The side of the door, the one just touching the door jam, was littered with locks of all kinds. Padlocks, combination locks that had the combination written beside it on the side of the door facing the inside of the room, and many keyhole locks that were probably very easy to pick.

Silly sighed and padded over to one of the many book shelves and plucked one thick leather bound book off the highest shelf she could reach. It felt heavy and important in her hands. There was no title on the cover, and she had no idea where it had come from or who had written it. Lifting the large cover and began turning the pages. There was sparse writing in it, and it looked to be a journal of some sort. Even though it was clearly written in English, the terms used and the phraseology was confusing to her. It looked much like her father's handwriting, but she wasn't sure. The writing was cryptic, and there were words that Silly had never even heard of before. The dates at the top of the page would suggest that her father had been fifteen when he had written these notes, if he had written them at all. But the language being use here was way too mature for a fifteen year old, surely. Silly closed the book and set it on the metal table in the middle of the room, not really sure of what to do with it, but not really wanting to put it back on the shelf.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and her head shot up. This was a first. No one ever had found this room, or these stairs, at least while she was up there. She heard the door knob twist, and jiggle. But the door wouldn't budge. Silly had locked all the locks, and waited to see what would happen. Keys were inserted into keyholes, proper combinations were used, and suddenly the door swung open. Silly looked upon the greatly afraid faces of many a people, this group included that she could see: Roy, Ed, Hugh, Hughes, and Steven because he was extremely tall.

Silly sighed, "So, you've finally found my hideout! I've been hiding away in here every time there's an outburst with the pregnant trio."

"Yeah, well it was originally a lab for your mother and me to do alchemic research in, but after you were born we focused more on the farm." Ed explained as he walked in, "I totally forgot about it for a long time, the guys and I were trying to get away from your Aunt, Uncle, and Mother just now."

It was a good thing the room was large and well furnished for in poured: Roy, Ed, Hugh, Hughes, Steven, Joey, Matt, Jimmy, Timmy, Phage, and Jack. So that meant that the only ones still downstairs were the mood swing bunch. Silly sighed in relief as Ed closed and locked the door. Wait, where's December? Uh…oh.

Silly suddenly exclaimed, "Where's December!"

All of guys in the room looked up and shrugged carelessly, "Dunno."

A sudden insane scream echoed from downstairs, "I'm not going to eat a cheese coated grape! I refuse! Get away from me! Heeeeeeelp!"

**TBC…**


	6. Chapter 6

Oooh **pretty colors…**

Chapter 1

Silmarion stood, shifting the five year old in her arms so that he wouldn't wake up. Now sixteen years of age, Silly was a natural beauty. Her long blonde hair cascaded over her shoulders in waves, and her golden eyes showed her exhaustion. She had only managed to get her younger brother to sleep a couple of minutes ago, and she could only hope that he wouldn't wake up again. Five year old Adonai Tadeo Elric was a rambunctious boy. It was always difficult to get him to take a nap, and not to bother his parents or _sister_. Silly brushed a stray lock of hair behind one ear and moved swiftly towards the house.

The McDougall household had become a lot busier over the past five years. Ever since the new babies had arrived, and the main house had been remodeled once again. Now the house was bigger and could very well accommodate the now even larger family. There was a large playroom and baby room that had been added for the care of the new additions to the family. Silly ignored her father talking to the chickens and ducks, and entered the house. The main house was still basically the same, only now it had another floor, a second basement. She walked down two flights of stairs and entered the baby's nursery which now house three five year olds. Silly set her little brother down in his bed and kissed his forehead gently.

"Silly." A quiet voice asked.

The girl turned to see a small five year old girl with bright flaming orange hair and blue eyes. In one hand was a small teddy bear which she dragged everywhere, and the other was now clenching the hem of Silly's shirt.

"Yes Sagiri?" Silly answered.

"I want a snack."

Silly complied, taking one of the small girl's hands and lead her up the stairs onto the ground floor. Dess was currently trying to tame Oz into simply sitting and watching the TV. It would seem that she was failing, miserably.

"Hey Oz, would you like a snack? I'm going to make some ants on a log for Sagiri in the kitchen." Silly called, instantly Oz's head shot up at the sound of food being mentioned.

"Uh huh!" He leapt off of Dess's lap and hurried over to Silly.

"Snack!" He squealed.

Silly gave Dess a sympathetic look, before leading the two munchkins to the kitchen. The two teenagers were the ones stuck with babysitting duty that day because everyone else was working. There were points during the summer harvest where Silly wished she were out there helping instead of taking care of five year olds. But then again, (as Dess liked to point out) it was much better then helping with the harvest; that ended with much more severe exhaustion then babysitting did.

"Why is it that the little monsters like you more than they like me?" Dess moaned, entering the kitchen and pulling up a barstool.

"I'm not really sure. I don't do anything all that different I think. But maybe you should try not to let them bug you that much." Silly quirked a smile, watching her cousins wolf down celery covered in peanut butter and raisins.

The two baby sitters sat in companionable silence for the first time that day. If they had it their way, they would keep the kids eating for hours, so that they would stay quiet. But that was not possible; their parents wouldn't let them that was for sure.

"How could a child with a mom like Uncle Al turn out like that?" Dess questioned, pointing at Oz.

"Probably because his Dad is Roy Mustang." Silly supplied.

"Ah."

Oz smirked, (never a good sign). He eyed one of Sagiri's celery sticks and made a grab for it. Sufficient experience as a babysitter of small children aided Silly's quick reflexes. Before Oz could successfully snatch the celery stick Silly had taken hold of his small wrist and said in a threatening voice, "NO."

Oz looked guiltily down at his empty plate and then hopped down off of the barstool. Dess turned lazily to look at the quickly escaping five year old thing.

"Where do you think you're going, Oz?" She asked.

"To go be with Mommy!"

"Nuh uh….no you're not. You know you're supposed to stay inside. That's what _mommy_ said. If you go out there, then you'll get in trouble." Dess said plainly.

"But I want to be with Mommy!" Suddenly, tears burst out of the small boy's eyes.

Dess was about to groan, but Silly held up a hand, motioning for her to stop.

"If you get upset, then you'll be giving him what he wants. Ignore him and eventually he'll stop. It's that simple." Silly said quietly.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, Oz realized that he wasn't going to win that way. Groaning, he slumped out of the room. Minutes later, thumps echoing from the stairs leading to the basements were heard. It would appear that he was giving up and retiring to the play room. Dess and Silly high-fived each other.

"Sagiri, you know that you're my favorite munchkin? You're the quietest." Dess whispered, gently patting the little girl on the head.

Sagiri cooed appreciatively, before taking another bite of her snack. All the while she barely made any sound, except for her quiet munching. Silly softly told her partner in munchkin care that she was going to go and check on Oz and Adonai. Dess nodded and cleaned up Sagiri's snack mess once she was done.

"You want to go down to the play room now?" Dess asked.

Sagiri sleepily nodded, and allowed herself to be carried out of the room and down towards the playroom.

Meanwhile, outside in the fruit orchards, the adults were all working hard. Now that the grandchildren were old enough to babysit the younglings the adults could focus solely on working. Phage, Jack, Amelia, Hugh, Hughes, Steven, Joey, Matt, Jimmy, Timmy, Roy, Al, James, and Ed were all working in the orchard. They were getting so much work done that it was more than likely that they would be done with the summer harvest by the weekend.

Phage broke out in a loud heaving cough, at the sound of which Jack asked concernedly, "Are you okay honey?"

"I'm fine," Phage wheezed, standing back up to continue working, "Just a little chest cold is all. Really, brunette babe, I'm fine. I promise."

"Alright, if you say so. But if you have a cold you shouldn't be working like this." Jack pouted but Phage ignored him and continued on working.

Hughes was ranting to Matt, Jimmy, and Timmy about how Elysia (his daughter) had just graduated from college and was going to be a great actress. None of the men were listening to the ranting father. Hughes had shown up to help for two days, and after dinner that night he would be heading home to be with his wife Glacier. But still, his help was greatly appreciated. Thought the price paid for his help was endless fatherly gushing about his fabulous daughter. It was slightly frightening but in the end, tolerable.

Phage and Jack had decided to finally return to the orchards and begin working again, though many a time the bobsy twins had told them to go back inside and relax. At the comment that they were too old to work, both men refused to stop working.

Phage was quite happy with himself at the moment. He had finally created a will, all of the animals, buildings and land that was Myishi farm went to Jack, as did all of that 'emergency' money in the bank. That money had added up to over a billion dollars by now in case anyone was wondering. Phage had done this in town without telling his family. The family still wasn't aware of their 'inheritance' at all. He was sure they would take it well when he died, wouldn't they? Hopefully they would.

Chapter 2

The family was gathered around the dinner table one evening, when suddenly while everyone was being served, Oz sneezed quite loudly. Everyone was about to say 'bless you', but were too shocked to do so at the sight of fire coming out of the boy's nose. He looked up at his parents, cousins, uncles, aunts, and grand parents in confusion as to what he had done. He sneezed again, burning the chicken on his plate. Oz looked at the still frozen butter on his bread and frowned in frustration. The small boy raised his fingers and snapped them right above the bread, a small flame extended from his fingers and stayed lit just above the butter. In a matter of seconds the butter melted and Oz snapped his fingers again, making the flame go out. Adonai giggled, clapped his hands together and plunged one finger into the melted butter. It resumed its frozen form and Oz growled angrily while Adonai continued to giggle hysterically.

Al, Roy, and Ed were all staring at each other in part-amazement, part-confusion. How could their children do these things? Roy couldn't snap his fingers and make fire, unless he was wearing his special ignition gloves, and even then he couldn't keep a small flame going like that and then be able to turn it off at a whim. Ed knew that you could only do transmutation without a circle ifyou had performed human transmutation, but he was pretty darn sure his son hadn't tried anything. What the hell?

Over the next couple of days the confused parents kept a closer eye on their children to make sure they didn't damage anything, or each other. It would seem that little Oz was as much of a pyro as his father, and would continue to light things on fire simply to stare at them. Adonai would constantly pull pranks on his cousin, and then such acts would escalade into all out brawls between both boys. It was hard to keep them under control.

None of this really worried anyone as much as Phage's condition. He had been hacking up a lung all week, and once Jack had sworn he had seen his husband cough up blood. Phage refused to stop working however, despite how horrible he felt. He was convinced that he would be fine and that no one should be worrying about him. Besides that Phage could take care of himself, or so he told anyone who bothered to even send so much as a concerned LOOK his way.

The next night, while everyone was asleep, Phage was creeping towards the kitchen. He was intent on getting some pudding; he had had the strangest craving the other day. On his way to the fridge however, he was forced to his knees by another coughing spell that tore through him. He could feel his throat tear and begin to bleed at the horrible spasms contining to wash over him. Soon enough, Jack, and the rest of the family hot on his heels were trying to ask Phage if he was alright.

Phage retched, clutching his throat, he heaved again and a loud splat echoed through the kitchen. There was a thick puddle of blood on the floor, and the sight of it made his stomach empty its contents. His dinner rushing up his throat only aggravated the cuts even more. Phage looked up at his husband, tears running freely down his face. His throat burned, and the after taste of hurl still lingered in his mouth. He felt horrible, but stood wiping his eyes, and his chin. Then, ignoring everyone's frightened stares; he left the room and went straight to bed.

Jack walked into the bedroom he shared with Phage, and crawled into bed next to his husband. Phage's back was turned to him, and Jack curled up behind him, wrapping thin arms around his mate's waist.

"I want you to stay in bed tomorrow, honey."

"No, I'm going to keep working." Phage retorted.

"Honey, you aren't fit to work right now, you've obviously come down with something. I'll call for Hardy tomorrow morning, and he'll come and see what's wrong with you. Until he says its okay for you to work, then you aren't working." Jack gripped his husband tighter in his arms, and snuggled against Phage's back.

"I'm still going to be working tomorrow." Phage mumbled.

Jack sighed; he decided that it would be best to let Phage think he'd won, then to continue to argue. Phage needed his rest.

The next day, Jack woke up to find Phage missing. He wasn't lying next to him like he had been the night before. Growling furiously, Jack scurried out of the house, still in his pajamas. Sure enough, Phage was out in the orchard working. It was as if he was determined to be contrary no matter what. Jack marched up to his husband and was tempted to smack him if he weren't worried about Phage's health.

"What do you think you're doing!" Jack screeched.

"Working, I thought it would have been obvious." Phage replied.

"Are you trying to kill yourself? You are in no condition to be working, you know that, I know that, the whole god damn family knows that, so you get your ass in bed and stay there!" Jack screamed.

"No." Phage ignored his mate as though he were a pesky mosquito.

Jack was seething, "I can't believe you're doing this, what is wrong with you!"

"I don't know, I thought you were going to go get Hardy to come to the farm so that he could figure that out for the both of us." Phage said, but as he was about to pull another fruit from the tree, he dropped the basket he had been holding.

Phage stood stock still, until suddenly he started coughing again. In an insane attempt to make the burning pain in his chest go away, he clawed at his shirt ripping it open. Then his nails dug into his skin, making it bleed as his throat continued to rip and tear as the coughing spells wracked his weak frame. Jack had called Silly to go and get Hardy as quick as possible. Phage could feel Jack at his side, but in a blinding rage, and fit of pain he smacked his mate away from him. He continued to rip open his chest on instinct, his hands seeking the thing that was causing the cough. But after only minutes black circles rimmed his vision. His breathing became shallow and less frequent. Phage fell backwards and could vaguely hear Jack screaming his name. Then, everything went black.

Phage looked around him. Everything was white, and fluffy. To his right he heard a loud honk. There was a big white bus trying to get around him. Phage backed away from it and fell over a curb. He whipped his head around, staring at anything and everything trying to figure out where he was. There were cars driving down a road that looked just like the ones he had seen in the city. The people walking past him were wearing modern fashions that Phage had seen in Amelia's closets, and Jack's wardrobes, but the one difference was that they were all white. A heavenly white, just like the wings sprouting out of everyone's backs. Phage reached behind him and realized that he had wings too. Above his head, he felt a warm ring; pulling it down in front of his eyes he discovered it to be a halo. Was he dead? Was this heaven?

"Phage! My friend, when did you get here? What happened man?" A familiar voice came from behind him.

Phage turned and saw Rock standing there, holding out a helping hand.

"Just a couple minutes ago I think. Is this heaven?"

"Yeah, it is. We need to go and get you some new clothes, you've got the standard issue robes that they give all newbies. I doubt you want to be walking around in those for long." Rock nodded, starting to lead Phage down the side walk.

"Probably not…" Phage nodded back to his friend, wondering what his family was doing back on earth.

Jack and the rest of the family were sitting around the rarely used dining room table back at the farm, while an attorney read Phage's will to them. The tall aging man that was the attorney was finally getting to the matter of the money that resided in Phage's bank account.

"At the present time there is 1, 568, 985, 235 G in Phage McDougall's bank account. All of that will go to Mr. Jack McDougall. Complete ownership of the farm, its land, animals, and all its properties will be passed down through the line of the oldest family member. So after Mr. Jack McDougall died, the ownership would pass to Mr. James Elric, and after he died then the ownership would pass to Mrs. Amelia McDougall, and so on and so forth…"

As the attorney rambled on Jack, and the whole entire family sat dumbstruck not believing what they were hearing. And all the while, Rock and Phage were sitting in a bar near heaven's main shopping mall watching the events concerning Phage's family, laughing their asses off.

**Epilogue**

Over the years, decades even, Phage McDougall realizes how much the farm has changed, how much HE changed. It all started with him moving to the farm, and meeting Jack that one night down at the beach. Now he has a family, a big family, one that he loves dearly. However wretched it is to watch them mourn from the comfortable seats of heaven, Phage knows that one day they'll wake up and be able to move on. He can't wait for that day. But for now, he's happy to look down and watch his children, and his grand children, and his husband Jack run the farm. Phage would have to say that his favorite part of this whole deal was the shocked look on their faces while the attorney read to them their inheritance. That was just funny. But, that couldn't compare to the hilarity of coming back to earth to visit his family. Even if it was only for one day, it had still been a hoot…

Silly had been sitting in between Oz and Adonai to try and keep them from pranking on each other, but so far her efforts had been futile. They kept using alchemy against each other. She couldn't stop alchemy when she didn't know how to use it herself. But while the rest of the family was enjoying their lunch there was a sudden blinding light in the room.

Silly shot out of her chair, thinking that the light was another one of Oz's pranks but instead out stepped Rock, and Phage, and Bob & Joe. Rock saluted the family with his left hand, and Phage doubled over laughing.

"You should have seen the looks on your faces!" Phage continued laughing.

Bob and Joe ran over to James and Amelia, lapping at their hands happily.

"But you're dead! You're not supposed to be here!" James cried.

"Alchemy doesn't apply to everything my son. In heaven there's such a thing one day visit cards. If you get a job and work hard enough for a certain amount of time, you get a card and you can visit anyone you choose for a whole day. Rock, Bob & Joe, and I worked hard enough. So we thought we'd pay you a visit." Phage explained, coming to sit at the table in his usual place.

Rock also sat down, and began eating, "Damn it, see I told you Jack had better cooking!"

"I know! It's not fair, Jack has better cooking then heaven does, and he's still alive!" Rock crowed in between mouthfuls of food.

Jack looked slightly sheepish, staring down at his shoes.

The next several hours, work was forgotten as the family sat around the table catching up with Phage and Rock. Sometimes Jack would talk about what was going on, on the farm. Sometimes, Phage would talk about what heaven was like, and so forth.

In the middle of detailing to his husband the latest discovery about heaven, Phage had a major realization. Looking around at his whole family, he then discovered that he had had a good life. Even though, thinking back on Mark's death, and James going away, Amelia's depression, and Oz and Adonai's sparring matches…he had really had a _wonderful_ life…

**_Fin…_**


End file.
